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Apr  So  •0'^ 


A  DISCOURSE 

IN     >iL 

iHcmcvi)  of 

THOMAS  HARVEY  SKINNER,  D.D.,  LL.D, 

BY 

GEORGE  L.  PRENTISS, 

PASTOR    OP    TUE    CHUKCH    OF    THE     COVENANT. 


on  ^v  dv7]p  dyadbg  kol  TTA?/p7/f  Uvevj-iarog  dyiov  koI  niareug, 

—Acts,  XI.  SM. 


ANSON  D.  F.  RANDOLPH  &  CO. 

770  Broadway,  cor.  gth  Street. 
NEW   YORK: 


TJiis  Discourse  was  delivered  in  the  Madison 
Square  Presbyteriatt  Church,  New  York,  on  Sabbath 
Evening,  May  7,  1871,  and  is  now  published,  by  re- 
quest of  the  Board  of  Directors  and  Faculty  of 
the  Union-  Theological  Seminary.  It  was  also  re- 
peated at  Chicago,  on  the  eveiiing  of  May  2^th,  before 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Chtcrch, 
by  the  unanimoiis  request  of  that  venerable  body.  An 
Appendix  has  been  added,  in  which  will  be  found 
some  account  of  the  Funeral,  the  Addresses  made  on 
that  occasion,  and  other  matter  illustrative  of  the  life 

and  character  of  Dr.  Skinner. 

G.  L.  p. 


THOMAS  HARVEY  SKINNER. 


I  ESTEEM  it  a  rare  privilege  to  speak  to  you  to-night 
in  memory  of  the  eminent  servant  of  God,  who,  on 
the  first  day  of  February  last,  beloved  and  Venerated 
by  us  all,  departed  to  be  with  Christ.  His  life  covered 
the  wide  space  of  almost  fourscore  years,  nearly  sixty 
of  which  were  spent  in  the  public  service  of  his  Mas- 
ter. Whether  considered  by  itself  as  an  example  of  the 
beauty  of  Christian  holiness,  or  in  its  relations  with  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  periods  in  the  history  of  the 
American  Church,  it  is  full  of  interest  and  instruction. 
I  shall  lose  no  time,  therefore,  in  the  way  of  introduc- 
tion, but  proceed  at  once  to  the  weighty  and  grate- 
ful task  assigned  me. 

HIS    BIRTH    AND    BOYHOOD. 

Thomas  Harvey  Skinner,  son  of  Joshua  and 
Martha  Ann  Skinner,  was  born  at  Harvey's  Neck, 
Perquimons  Co.,  N.  C,  March  7,  1791.  He  was  the 
seventh  of  thirteen  children.  The  plain  dwelling,  in 
which  he  first  saw  the  light,  was  long  since  re- 
moved by  the  ever-encroaching  waves  of  Albe- 
marle Sound.  The  Neck  had  been  the  seat  of  Gov- 
>^  ernor  Harvey,  whose  descendants  were  now  its  chief 

Is 


6  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER- 

occupants ;  its  society  was  gay  and  cultivated,  and  it 
had  natural  attractions  fitted  to  make  a  lasting  impres- 
sion upon  the  mind  of  a  sensitive  boy.  The  neigh- 
boring woods  still  abbunded  with  deer  and  other 
game,  and  immense  flocks  of  swans  and  wild  geese 
swam  on  the  waters  both  of  the  sound  and  of  the 
beautiful  Perquimons  river,  feeding  on  a  sweet  grass 
which  then  grew  on  the  bottom.  When  an  old  man, 
Dr.  Skinner  still  paid  an  annual  visit  to  this  home  of 
his  childhood,  and  fondly  cherished  its  pleasant  me- 
mories. The  domestic  influences  in  the  midst  of  which 
he  was  trained  were  of  the  best  sort.  His  parents  he 
described  as  simple  and  plain  in  their  mode  of  life, 
dij?''pguished  for  their  probity,  hospitality  and  kind- 
ness to  the  poor,  beloved  and  honored  by  the  commu- 
nity, pious  and  strict  in  the  training  and  education  of 
their  children.  His  father  was  by  birth  a  Quaker; 
his  mother  was  an  Episcopalian.  After  their  mar- 
riage they  became  members  of  the  Baptist  Church, 
under  the  faithful  ministry  of  the  Rev.  M.  Ross.  They 
were  both  bright  examples  of  spiritual  religion,  and 
died  in  faith  and  in  peace.  Their  house  was  much 
frequented  by  religious  persons,  and  especially  by 
preachers.  It  had  been  furnished  as  a  church,  and 
three  Sabbaths  out  of  four  the  father  himself  conducted 
public  worship  in  it ;  the  fourth  Sabbath  he  and  his 
family  attended  a  monthly  service  in  the  church,  twelve 
miles  distant.  He  did  not  preach ;  he  prayed  with 
the  people,  read  the  Scriptures  to  them,  and  read  also 


AT   SCHOOL.  7 

a  sermon,  generally  one  of  the  village  sermons  or  one 
of  President  Davies' ;  he  united  exhortation  with  the 
reading;  his  children  conducted  the  music.  It  is  not 
strange  that  God  blessed  his  family  greatly,  and^  made 
him  a  blessing  to  his  neighbors.  Of  his  thirteen  chil- 
dren, twelve  reached  full  age,  married  and  were  pros- 
perous. Two  of  them,  a  brother  and  a  sister,  still 
survive  at  a  veiy  advanced  age. 

AT    SCHOOL. 

Mr.  Skinner  employed  a  school-master,  of  the  name 
of  Bailey,  in  his  own  house,  the  neighbors  being  al- 
lowed to  send  their  children  also.  Under  this  tutor 
Thomas  was  placed  at  a  very  early  age.  Master  B  'ey 
was  proud  of  him  as  a  pupil,  and  boasted  of  him  after 
he  had  left  the  school  as  a  great  proficient  under  his 
teaching.  After  having  attended  awhile  two  other 
schools,  he  was  sent  to  Edenton  Academy,  then  under 
the  care  of  Mr.  Metcalf,  an  excellent  teacher,  to  whom 
he  at  once  became  affectionately  attached,  and  whose 
death  soon  after  greatly  afflicted  and  perplexed  him. 
"  When  I  saw  his  grave,  I  still  had  the  thought  that 
he  must  come  out  of  it  and  be  again  with  us  at  the 
academy."  Upon  the  death  of  Master  Metcalf,  he 
passed  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Freeman,  who  taught 
him  Latin  and  Greek.  He  made  such  rapid  progress 
in  his  studies,  that  his  eldest  brother,  Joseph,  who  was 
practicing  law  at  Edenton,  resolved  to  take  his  future 
training  under  his  own  direction  ;  Dr.  Freeman  was 


8  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

to  qualify  him  for  Princeton,  and  Princeton  was  to 
qualify  him  to  be  a  student  of  law.  This  was  late 
in  1804,  when  he  was  thirteen  years  old.  He  had 
been  Hving  in  the  family  of  his  uncle  John,  but  was 
now  adopted  into  that  of  his  brother,  under  whose 
roof  he  remained  three  years.  "  I  became " — so  he 
wrote  more  than  sixty  years  later — "  as  his  son. 
Though  himself  a  young  man,  he  had  no  equal  at  the 
bar ;  and  for  intelligence,  and  talents,  and  general  in- 
fluence, scarcely  any  one  in  the  community  was  his 
equal.  He  had  married  in  a  family  of  the  highest 
position  a  lady  of  culture  and  refinement.  Her 
mother,  Mrs.  Lowther,  was  a  descendant  of  Governor 
Eden,  the  loveliest,  most  beautiful,  most  interesting 
of  women.  In  this  family  I  was  a  favorite.  I  re- 
mained in  it,  loved  and  loving,  till  I  completed  my 
course  at  the  Academy.  Greater  advantages  for  the 
culture  of  mind  and  manners  I  could  hardly  have 
desired." 

AT    COLLEGE. 

Let  us  follow  him  now  to  Princeton.  He  entered 
Nassau  Hall  in  September,  1807,  joining  the  junior 
class.  This  he  regarded  in  later  years  as  a  serious  mis- 
take. He  had  been  taught  Greek  very  superficially, 
and  had  to  make  up  a  deficiency  in  this  language.  He 
should,  he  said,  have  joined  the  sophomore  class.  In 
his  second  term,  under  the  tuition  of  Dr.  Maclean,  he 
began  to  be  conscious  of  having  a  gift  for  mathemat- 
ics— a  consciousness  he  found  "  unspeakably  agreeable," 


A    STUDENT    OF    LAW.  9 

and  which  seems  to  have  aroused  his  whole  intellectual 
beino-  to  a  new  life.  He  conducted  himself  as  a  stud- 
ent  in  the  most  exemplary  manner,  being  almost  nev- 
er absent  from  prayers,  recitation,  or  any  college  ex- 
ercise, during  his  entire  course.  He  was  supremely 
desirous  of  reciting  w^ell,  and  ambitious  of  a  high  posi- 
tion in  the  class,  as  also  of  the  approbation  and  favor 
of  the  faculty.  At  the  graduation  he  shared  with 
several  others  the  second  honor— a  high  distinction  in 
one  so  young,  and  so  imperfectly  qualified  at  the  be- 
ginning. 

A  STUDENT  OF  LAW  AT  EDENTON. 

On  his  return  to  Edenton  he  was  welcomed  with 

open  arms  by  the  happy  family,  which  had  parted  with 

him  two  years  before.     "My  dear  brothers  pleasure 

was  at  its  utmost  height  and  unbounded ;  I  never  saw 

a  more  delighted  person.     His  love  to  me  seemed  to 

the  last  degree  inventive  of  means  of  expression.     Had 

I  been  his  only  son,  his  complacency  in  me  could  not 

have  been  more  demonstrative.     Never  can  I  forget 

his  noble,  generous,  irrepressible  sympathy.     It  was 

not  from  the  impulse  of  the  moment ;  it  was  no  less  solid 

and   lasting,  and   full  of  expedients  for  my  highest 

w^orldly    advancement,    than    lively    and    exuberant. 

After  a  thrfce  happy  visit  to  my  parents,  and  brothers, 

and  sisters  at  Harvey's  Point,  I  returned  to  Edenton 

to  commence  a  law-student,  under  his  training."     He 

continued  in  his  brother's  office  until  the  spring  of 


10  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

iSii — a  space  of  about  eighteen  months.  This  was 
an  exceedingly  interesting  period  of  his  life.  His  own 
reminiscences  of  it  were  full  of  delight.  The  stimulus 
to  intellectual  activity  was  intense.  He  not  only  pur- 
sued with  diligence  his  legal  studies,  and  performed 
faithfully  the  duties  of  Clerk  of  the  Superior  Court — 
a  place  early  obtained  for  him  by  his  brother — but  he 
was  ambitious  to  excel  in  other  directions ;  he  even 
wrote  and  published  verses.  The  social  influences  that 
surrounded  him  were  fascinating  and  potent  in  the 
highest  degree.  Some  of  the  most  charming  and 
cultivated  families  of  the  old  North  State  had  their 
homes  in  Edenton.  The  pleasures  of  its  social  life, 
indeed,  according  to  his  own  account,  were  very  ex- 
cessive and  hindered  him  not  a  little  in  his  professional 
studies. 

HIS    CONVERSION. 

But  the  hour  now  approached  when  social  pleasures 
and  the  honors  of  his  chosen  profession  were  alike  to 
lose  their  power  over  him.  God  was  about  to  call  him 
to  a  higher  life.  His  parents,  as  we  have  seen,  were  de- 
voted Christians ;  and  at  times  the  pious  atmosphere 
and  customs  of  the  family  seem  to  have  excited  in  him 
serious  thoughts;  but  it  was  only  for  the  moment. 
He  describes  himself  as  growing  in  alienation  from 
God  as  he  grew  in  years.  Neither  at  the  Academy  nor 
at  Princeton  did  he  remember  to  have  been  under  any 
religious   impressions.     The   whole   spirit   of   college 


HIS    CONVERSION.  II 

society  and  sentiment  was  intensely  sensuous  and 
worldly;  while  few  of  the  students  were  avowed 
sceptics,  almost  every  one  was  a  practical  atheist.  "  I 
left  college  full  to  overflow  of  animal,  intellectual, 
social  life,  but  alienated  wholly  and  fearfully  from  the 
life  of  God,  through  heart  ignorance  and  blindness.' 
And  in  this  state  he  continued  until  the  spring  of  i8i  i, 
when  he  was  on  the  eve  of  admission  to  the  bar.  It 
w^ould  be  wrong  to  depict  the  change  which  now  came 
over  him,  and  over  his  whole  plan  of  life,  in  any  other 
than  his  own  exact  words : 

"  A  missionary  had  come  to  Edenton ;  he  lodged  with 
a  friend  whom  I  called  to  see  on  Saturday.  The  mission- 
ary, (the  Rev.  B.  H.  Rice,)  was  with  us  in  the  parlor. 
Repulsed  by  his  conversation,  and  wished  him  anywhere 
else  than  there.  The  next  day  he  was  to  preach  in  the 
Episcopal  church.  I  heard  him  with  interest  greater 
than  I  had  ever  felt  in  church.  In  the  evening  heard  him 
ao-ain  at  the  Methodist  church,  ('  ^Vhat  shall  it  profit  a 

O 

mail,  etc:)  Almost  overwhelmed  vvith  emotion;  said  to 
myself,  '  Almost  thou'persuadest  me  to  be  a  Christian.'  I 
could  not  sleep  till  I  had  done,  what  I  kno^v  not  that  I 
had  done  before :  knelt  in  solemn  prayer  to  God.  In  the 
morning,  before  I  was  out  of  bed,  the  servant  who  at- 
tended to  my  room,  announced  to  me  the  tidings  which 
had  just  reached  the  town,  that  my  brother  John  had 
perished  by  shipwreck!  Next  to  my  eldest  brother, 
there  was  not  one  of  my  father's  sons  more  loved  and  de- 
lighted in  as  a  youth  of  rare  promise  than  he ;  in  mind  he 
was  scarcely  my  eldest  brother's  inferior.  Inexpressibly 
strong  and  affectionate  was  my  attachment  to  him.     My 


12  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKIXNER. 

brother,  my  incomparable  brother  John  drowned  !  Ter- 
rible, astounding  fact !  It  shook  me  to  the  very  centre  of 
my  life;  coming  so  close  upon  nightly  '  impressions 
received  from  preaching,  it  enforced  those  impressions. 
Religion  became  at  once  my  only  concern.  My  brother 
(J.  B.  S.)  was  from  home  attending  court.  A  week  or 
more  elapsed  before  he  returned.  It  was  to  me  a  week 
of  absorption  in  religious  anxiet}^ ;  night  and  day,  I  was 
praying,  reading  the  Bible,  etc.;  with  constant  increase  of 
religious  concern.  I  could  attend  earnestly  to  nothing 
but  the  salvation  of  my  soul.  .  .  .  Near  the  end  of 
the  week  there  was  a  transition  in  my  feeling,  which  I 
took  as  hopeful ;  Scripture  had  a  new  face,  one  passage 
(Is.  43  :  2.)  wa's  inexpressibly  consoling  to  me,  the  face  of 
the  world  was  new  to  me  ;  a  mild  glory  was  diffused  over 
all  nature.  I  had  no  distinctness  of  spiritual  perception  ; 
no  vivid  apprehension  of  Christ  as  a  Saviour ;  no  per- 
suasion that  I  was  converted ;  but  in  a  vague  sense,  at 
least,  old  things  had  passed  away,  and  all  things  had  be- 
come new.  Was  full  of  peace  without  clear  views  of 
evangelical  truth,  until  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  (the  Rev. 
Mr.  Woodbery)  who  had  heard  something  of  what  had 
happened  to  me,  called  to  see  me,  and  after  some  conver- 
sation with  me,  told  me  that  he  thought  I  was  a  Christian. 
I  became  unhappy ;  the  question  of  my  conversion  had 
not  been  in  my  thought ;  I  now  began  to  consider  it,  and 
was  filled  with  misgiving ;  I  could  not  think  the  signs  of 
true  conversion  were  with  me;  I  did  not  know  what  were 
such  signs ;  I  was  full  of  anxiety  about  myself,  anxiety 
which  did  not  soon  leave  me.  I  attended  all  the  religious 
meetings ;  I  thought  of  nothing  but  religion  ;  I  had  plea- 
sure in  them.     A  hymn  was  sweetly  sung  at  one  of  them. 


INTERVIEW    WITH    HIS    BROTHER.  1 3 

("  Hark,  m}'  soul,  it  is  the  Lord,")  which  I  heard  with 
singular  interest.  I  was  open  and  fearless  in  professing 
myself  exercised  with  religious  concern ;  did  not  ask 
what  my  friends  would  think  of  me  ;  was  aggressive  toward 
them  rather  than  defensive  of  myself.  But  generally  I 
was»not  at  rest  in  myself;  could  not  assure  myself  that  I 
had  become  a  Christian." 

He  then  describes  his  interview  with  his  brother : 

"  It  was  a  trial  severe  beyond  example  in  my  life. 
Wished  to  anticipate  reports  from  others,  by  informing 
him  myself  of  the  change  which  had  passed  over  me.  He 
was  afflicted  by  brother  John's  death,  as  deepl}^,  perhaps, 
as  myself,  but  in  no  degree  religiously.  He  heard  my 
recital  with  astonishment ;  I  wonder  even  at  this  day  that 

I  was  able  to  give  it  to  him I  said  to  him, 

'  Don't  suppose  that,  as  a  matter  of  course,  I  am  to  aban- 
don the  study  of  the  Law  ;  I  see  no  inconsistency  between 
the  practice  of  the  Law  and  a  religious  life.'  He  made 
no  answer;  but  seemed  profoundly  sad,  prospecting, 
doubtless,  the  end  which  came.  He  would  talk  with  me 
no  longer.  There  was  henceforth  much  diversity  in  his 
manner  toward  me.  Sometimes  he  was  severe  ;  I  was  to 
be  'a  Methodist  circuit-rider,  going  about  the  country 
Avith  horse  and  saddle-bags.'  Sometimes  he  was  the  ideal 
of  kindness  and  gentleness :  '  Divinity  and  Law  were 
allies;  study  Divinity  if  you  will ;  Hooker's  Ecclesiastical 
Polity  was  a  noble  Law-book ;  go  abroad  if  you  will,  and 
perfect  yourself  in  a  Divinity  School,  then  return  and 
complete  your  Law  course ;  you  will  be  all  the  better  ac- 
complished f6r  the  bar.'  Dearest  brother,  what  was  it  in 
me  that  made  my  actual  course  a  possibiHty?    All  men 


14  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

collectively  were  as  nothing  to  me  compared  with  this 
man.  What  a  mystery  to  me  that  I  could  set  myself  as  I 
did  against  comphance  with  his  disinterested  views  and 
wishes  and  proposals,  for  my  advancement  in  the  world ! 
If  my  determination  was  from  aught  else  than  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  Divine  Will,  the  operation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  within  me,  it  was  but  proof  of  perverseness  and  the 
basest  ingratitude  !  Infinitely  far  from  this  was  it  in- 
tentionally or  consciously.  Rather  would  I  have  dis- 
pleased all  mankind  than  this  one  man. 

"  Five  or  six  weeks  passed  before  I  left  him.  I  was  not 
fully  satisfied  that  I  had  become  a  Christian.  Religious 
concern  was  exclusive  of  every  rival  feeling.  I  assumed 
that  all  my  intimate  acquaintances  and  associates  sympa- 
thized with  me ;  or  that  if  they  did  not,  it  was  to  their 
disadvantage.  As  well  as  I  can  remember  I  had  not  a 
single  thought  of  what  I  might  lose  of  worldly  good  ; 
all  loss  from  leading  a  rehgious  life  was  gain ;  all  good 
was  comprehended  in  religion.  But  the  question,  notwith- 
standing, was  not  settled.  Was  I  a  Christian  ?  I  began 
to  search  into  the  signs  of  conversion ;  I  read  Whitefield's 
Sermons;  I  read  Edwards  on  the  Affections;  I  prayed 
for  light  from  above  ;  at  one  time  I  almost  thought  my- 
self assured,  but  my  doubts  returned,  and  I  think  I  was 
never  absolutely  without  them  when  I  put  the  question 
closely  to  myself.  I  made  it  an  objection  to  my  piety, 
that  I  had  not  been  vividly  and  definitely  enlightened  as 
to  the  way  of  salvation.  A  passage  in  Edwards  consoled 
me  with  the  hope  that  my  views  on  this  subject  would 
gradually  become  more  satisfactory ;  but  though  general- 
ly happy,  and  immovable  in  my  purpose,  I  was  not  cer- 
tain as  to  the  genuineness  of  my  change." 


DECIDES    TO    STUDY    DIVINITY.  1 5 

He  then  gives  an  interesting  account  of  his  diffi- 
culties on  the  subject  of  pedo-baptism  : 

"  I  became  too  much  agitated  internally  to  weigh  evi- 
dence ;  I  could  not  decide  absolutely,  pro  or  con,  about 
it.     There  was  to  be  a  public  baptism  in  Edenton,  by 
Uncle  Ross,  as  we  called  him.     About  the  time  of  my 
conversion  there  was  an  awakening  in  the  place  ;  seven- 
teen persons,  the  fruit  of  it,  were  to  be  immersed.     The 
day  arrived,  a  mild  and  sweet  Sabbath  day ;  I  heard  the 
preliminary  sermon  ;  and  went  with  the  solemn  procession 
to  the  water ;  they  sang  hymns  as  they  went ;  I  felt  the 
sanctity  and  holy  beauty  of  the  service;  with  unutterable 
emotion  I  saw  the  baptism  performed;    the  scene  was 
heavenly,     '  Was  not  this  Baptism  indeed ;  the  true  primi- 
tive Baptism  ?'     Had  I  felt  assured  that  it  was  so  exclusive- 
ly, how  gladly  should  I  have  been  immersed  that  day ! 
But  I  did  not  feel  this  assurance.     From  the  place  I  re- 
tired into  a  wood  in  the  neighborhood,  and  there  under 
the  trees,  I  prayed  for  divine  illumination.     Arose  from 
prayer  with  profound  tranquillity  of  spirit ;  neither  assured 
nor  unassured,  but  in  a  frame  of  soul  to  which  calm  re- 
flection was  practicable.     My  scrupulosity  was  in  abey- 
ance ;  I  reviewed  the  subject,  and  was  at  rest  as  to  my 
personal  baptism.     Had  I  not  been  baptized  I  might  have 
become  a  candidate  for  immersion  ;  but  re-baptism  was 
unnecessary,   and   therefore  inexpedient    and   improper. 
Thus  ended  my  scruples." 

A    STUDENT    OF    DIVINITY. 

The  next  question  was, "  Shall  I  change  my  calling  ?" 
He  soon  solved  it  by  making  up  his  mind  to  acquire, 


1 6  THOMAS   HARVEY   SKINNER. 

by  the  will  of  God,  a  theological  education,  and  be- 
come a  Presbyterian  minister  of  the  Gospel.  In  pur- 
suance of  this  design,  he  came  to  Philadelphia  late  in 
the  spring  of  1 8 1 1 ,  with  the  view  of  putting  himself 
under  the  care  of  the  celebrated  Dr.  Ashbel  Green ; 
but  Dr.  Green,  on  account  of  the  multitude  of  his 
labors,  declined  the  request  of  the  youthful  applicant, 
advising  him  to  go  to  Andover,  or  else  to  Princeton, 
where  President  Smith  was  teaching  a  theological 
class.  He  decided  in  favor  of  Princeton,  and  soon 
after  going  there  joined  the  Presbyterian  church  of  the 
place.  Among  his  friends  at  Princeton  was  Mr. 
Scudder,  afterwards  the  distinguished  missionary,  with 
whom  he  had  much  sweet  Christian  fellowship.  In  the 
autumn  of  the  same  year,  he  was  induced  to  go  to 
Savannah,  Ga.,  where  he  passed  the  winter  in  studying 
under  the  eloquent  Dr.  Henry  Kollock.  Wm.  A. 
(afterwards  Dr.)  McDowell,  one  of  his  theological 
classmates  at  Princeton,  was  with  him  also  at  Savan- 
nah. Dr.  Kollock's  instruction  was  not  of  much  ad- 
vantage to  him.  In  the  spring  of  1812,  he  came  to 
Elizabethtown,  N.  J.,  having  accepted  the  friendly  in- 
vitation of  Rev.  (afterwards  Dr.)  John  McDowell  to 
become  a  member  of  his  family  and  his  theological 
pupil.  He  remained  under  the  roof  of  this  admirable 
man  for  seven  months ;  and  in  after  years,  even  to  old 
age,  he  recurred  to  this  period  of  his  life  with  the  ut- 
most satisfaction  and  thankfulness.  Probably  there 
was  at  that  time  no  Presbyterian  minister  in  the  whole 


AT    ELIZABETIITOWN.  I  7 

country,  with  whom  he  could  have  studied  to  more 
advantage.  Besides  being  one  of  the  best  preachers 
of  his  day,  Dr.  McDowell  was  a  model  of  pastoral  care 
and  faithfulness ;  his  piety  was  as  wise  and  tender  as  it 
was  earnest ;  rare  domestic  virtues  rendered  his  home 
a  sweet  and  hallowed  place.  In  the  bosom  of  this 
lovely  Christian  family,  he  was  not  merely  the  student 
of  divinity ;  here  he  learned  also  how  a  good  man  can 
bear  affliction,  and  illustrate  the  cheerful  submission, 
patience,  and  gentleness  of  the  Gospel. 

While  pursuing  his  studies  at  Elizabethtown,  he 
took  an  active  part  in  the  religious  meetings  of  the 
place.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Hatfield  has  kindly  furnished  me 
with  extracts  from  an  old  diary  kept  by  an  officer  of 
Dr.  McDowell's  church,  which  bear  witness  on  this 
point.     Let  me  read  some  passages : 

Aug.  9,  1 812. — "  In  evening  at  Adelphian  Society.  The 
assembly  was  so  great,  although  I  was  in  pretty  good 
season,  I  could  get  only  in  the  entry.  Mr.  Skinner  read 
Edwards'  sermon  on  the  punishment  of  the  wicked." 
Aug.  16. — "In  evening  at  Adelphian  Academy;  a  full 
house.  Mr.  Skinner  read  Davies'  sermon  on  lukewarm- 
ness  in  religion."  Sept.  6. — "In  evening,  Mr.  Skinner 
read  ^Nlr.  Whitefield's  sermon.  Lord,  Lord,  open  to  iisy 
Sept.  13. — "In  forenoon,  heard  Mr.  Skinner  read  Mr.  Ed- 
wards' sermon  from  '  Their  feet  shall  slide  in  due  time.' 
p.  M.  Heard  Mr.  Skinner  read  a  sermon  from  '  Rejoice  not 
that  the  devils  are  subject  to  you,' "  etc.,  etc. 

Tuesday  evening,  Oct.  13. — "At  society  at  R.  Price's. 
Rev.  Wm.  A.  McDowell,  Mr.  Skinner,  and  EHhu  Price 
2 


1 8  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKIXXER. 

spoke.  A  solemn  meeting."  Sab.,  Oct.  25. — "  In  even- 
ing went  with  Mr.  Skinner  to  the  black  societ}-  in  African 
street.  I  spoke  after  him  from  the  55th  chapter  of 
Isaiah."  Sab.,  Dec.  13. — "  In  evening,  at  Society  Adel- 
phian  Academy.  Mr.  Skinner  read  Davies'  sermon.  Mr. 
McDowell  spoke;  afterward  Mr.  Skinner,  from  '  What 
think  ye  of  Christ?'  applied  to  all." 

IS    LICENSED    AND    BEGINS    TO    PREACH. 

On  the  following  Wednesday,  December  16,  181 2, 
he  was  licensed  to  preach  the  Gospel  by  the  Presby- 
tery at  Morristown.  He  came  to  Newark  with 
Rev.  (afterwards  Dr.)  Richards  on  the  afternoon  of 
the  same  day,  and  in  the  evening  preached  his  first 
sermon,  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  from  the 
text,  Luke  12:  32.  Fear  not,  little  flock,  etc.,  etc. 
The  ride  from  Morristown  to  Newark  on  this  winter 
afternoon  almost  cost  him  his  life.  He  contracted  a 
cold,  which  settled  upon  his  lungs,  and  before  the  close 
of  another  year  brought  him  to  the  verge  of  the  grave. 
But  nothing,  at  that  time,  could  dampen  the  ardor  of 
his  spirit. 

Friday,  Dec.  18  (I  quote  again  the  old  diary). — "At 
Academ3^  Mr.  Skinner  spoke  for  the  first  time  on  the 
jailor.  A  crowded  house."  Sab.,  Dec.  20,  A.  M. — Mr. 
Skinner,  from  Matthew  27  :  <S-j.  '  Who  also  himself  was 
Jesus'  disciple.'  He  described  the  character  of  a  Chris- 
tian: I.  He  is  born  again.  2.  Repenteth  of  his  sins.  3. 
Belie vcth  in  Christ.  4.  Lovcth  God  supremely.  5.  Lov- 
eth  his  neighbor.     6.  Has  the  same  mind  in  him,  viz., 


TREACIIES    IN    WASHINGTON.  1 9 

humble,  obedient,  etc.,  etc.  7.  Is  not  conformed  to  the 
world  ;  hateth  sin."  Tuesday,  Dec.  22. — At  R.  Price's. 
Mr.  Condit  preached.  Mr.  Skinner  and  Mr.  McDow- 
ell spoke  afterwards.     Meeting  solemn." 

He  now  set  out  on  his  return  to  the  South.  The 
last  Sabbath  in  December  he  passed  in  Philadelphia, 
preaching  in  the  Tabernacle,  Ranstead's  Court,  for  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Joyce.  It  was  an  obscure  place,  but  his 
name  had  already  become  known ;  and  after  the  ser- 
mon he  was  waited  upon  by  representatives  of  the 
powerful  Second  Church,  Arch  street  corner  of  Third, 
who  urged  him  to  preach  for  them  on  the  next  Sun- 
day, January  2,  1813.  He  consented  to  do  so,  and 
this  was  his  first  introduction  to  the  congregation  of 
which  he  was  soon  to  become  a  pastor.  After  preach- 
ing here  several  weeks,  he  resumed  his  journey  home- 
ward. The  first  Sabbath  in  Februaiy  he  spent  in 
Washington  ;  and  an  extract  from  the  memoir  of  Dr. 
James  Milnor,  the  reVered  rector  of  St.  George's 
Church  in  this  city,  who  w^as  then  a  member  of  Con- 
gress, wnll  show  how  he  spent  it : 

"  His  next  letter  contains  an  account  of  a  visit  to  AVash- 
ington,  on  his  way  from  Philadelphia  southward,  of  a 
young  Presbyterian  preacher,  the  Rev.  JNIr.  Skinner,  who 
brought  him  a  letter  of  introduction  from  Mr.  Bradford, 
and  whose  eloquent  and  faithful  preaching  at  the  capital 
left  a  deep  and  most  salutary  impression.  Mr.  Milnor 
thus  narrates  two  incidents  connected  with  this  visit : 
'Feb.  8,  1813. — An  amiable  friend  of  mine' — apparently  a 


20  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINXER. 

fellow-member  of  Congress — '  who  would  have  been  much 
offended  to  be  told  he  was  not  a  believer,  was  frank  enough 
to  acknowledge  to  me  that  he  went  home  after  morning 
service,  retired  to  his  chamber,  and  wept  bitterly  at  the  re- 
flection that,  at  the  age  of  fifty,  this  young  stripling  should 
have  so  laid  open  his  deformities,  and  set  before  him  truths 
to  which  he  had  so  long  been  experimentall}^  a  stranger. 
A  conversation  held  with  him  to-day  induces  me  to  be- 
lieve that  an  abiding  impression  has  been  made  upon  his 
mind.  On  Sunda}^  afternoon,  at  the  close  of  service,  a 
lady  who  had  been  much  affected  went  to  speak  to  Mr. 
Skinner ;  but  her  teai^s  choked  her  utterance,  and  she 
withdrew.'  "* 

I  think  you  will  agree  with  me  that  this  record  not 
only  shows  his  early  zeal  and  pungency  as  a  preacher, 
but  betokens  also  the  depth  and  power  of  his  early 
religious  experience.  He  was  still  in  his  twenty- 
second  year,  and  had  been  converted  less  than  two 
years,  when  his  preaching  arrested  such  attention  in 
the  gay  and  thoughtless  capita]  of  the  nation. 

IS     ORDAINED     PASTOR     OF     THE     SECOND     CHURCH     IN 
THILADELPHIA. 

After  visiting  his  friends  in  North  Carolina,  he  re- 
turned to  Philadelphia,  and  on  the  loth  of  June,  1813, 
was  ordained  co-pastor  with  Dr.  Janeway  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church,  Arch  street.  In  this  position 
he  remained  three  years  and  four  months.  It  was  the 
most  trying  period  of  his  ministerial  life.     The  religious 

*  Memoir  of  Dr.  Milnor,  pp.  142-3, 


THEOLOGICAL   CONTENTIONS.  21 

atmosphere  was  charged  with  suspicion  and  strife. 
DitTerences  of  opinion  about  abiHty,  about  the  use  of 
means  and  measures,  about  the  question  whether  men 
ought  to  be  addressed  as  saints,  sinners  and  seekers,  or 
only  as  saints  and  sinners,  about  unregenerate  praying, 
lay-exertion,  or  "  lay-preaching,"  as  it  was  called,  and 
other  points,  began  to  agitate  the  community  and  to 
array  the  Presbyterian  ministers  and  churches  on  op- 
posite sides.  This  is  not  the  place  to  go  into  the  his- 
toiy  of  these  sharp  contentions.  They  raged  for  several 
years  with  a  violence  which  seems  to  us  now  scarcely 
credible.  The  most  eminent  clergymen  and  laymen  of 
the  Church  took  part  in  them,  they  were  talked  about 
at  the  corners  of  the  streets,  and  the  meetings  of  Pres- 
bytery and  Synod  were  sometimes  wrought  up  by 
them  to  a  high  pitch  of  excitement.  It  was  not  in  the 
ardent  nature  of  the  junior  pastor  of  the  Second  Church 
to  act  the  part  of  a  neutral  at  such  a  moment.  Indeed, 
a  change  in  his  own  views  seems  to  have  been,  in  part, 
the  occasion  of  the  conflict.  He  accordingly  threw 
himself  into  it  v/ith  his  whole  heart.  He  became  one 
of  its  leaders  and  fouo-ht  the  battle  with  the  dashinc: 
energy  and  courage  of  a  youthful  hero.  Dr.  Green, 
now  President  of  Nassau  Hall,  Dr.  Janeway,  and  many 
of  the  most  influential  members  of  his  church  were 
against  him  ;  Rev.  James  Patterson,  the  fervid  evange- 
list. Dr.  James  P.Wilson,  a  master  in  the  Presbyterian 
Israel,  and  another  portion  of  the  Church  were  for  him. 
But  he  was  not  happy ;  he  felt  himself  in  the  wrong 


22  THO-Mx^.S    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

place ;  the  ruling  influences  were  not  friendly  to  him ; 
and  in  November,  1816,  the  Presbytery  dissolved  his 
co-pastoral  relation  with  the  Second  Church.  I  have 
alluded  to  a  change  in  his  theological  views. 

"  I  became  (he  says)  an  Edwardean,  though  not,  as  was 
charged  on  me,  a  Hopkinsiaii,  in  doctrine.  Not  opposition 
to  Edwards,  but  vagueness  and  indistinctness  about  the 
nature  of  virtue  and  the  freedom  of  the  will,  had  appeared 
in  my  preaching.  ]My  theological  training  was  defective. 
I  preached  confusedly  and  incoherently  on  the  means  of 
grace.  I  encouraged  and  urged  unregenerate  praying, 
or  waiting  for  the  Spirit.  I  did  not  understand,  that 
though  the  simple  movements  of  nature  are  to  be  stimu- 
lated, no  delay  of  repentance  should  be  admitted ;  that 
holy  affections  and  actions  should  instantaneously  follow 
thought  on  their  objects ;  that  impenitence  after  this 
thought  is  aggravated  rebellion.  Through  acquaintance 
and  conversation  with  such  men  as  Dr.  Richards,  Dr. 
Griffin,  Dr.  Payson,  and  especially  with  Dr.  S.  H.  Cox, 
(now  a  student  in  Philadelphia,  full  of  intelligence,  bright- 
ness, and  zeal,)  I  became  reflectiv^e  on  myself  as  a  preach- _ 
er,  and  saw,  as  in  a  sunbeam,  the  error  of  my  way.  My 
preaching  on  the  doings  of  unregeneracy  was  revolution- 
ized; my 'new  light'  filled  it.  It  was  not  yet  pure  or 
complete  in  its  radiance ;  had  it  been,  perhaps  the  conse- 
quences which  followed,  might  not  have  had  place  ;  but 
such  as  it  was,  I  imparted  it  without  restraint ;  I  could 
not  forbear ;  to  make  any  allowance  to  impenitence  after 
the  hearing  of  the  gospel,  was  to  be  myself  dislo3^al  to 
truth  and  grace.  I  protested  against  it  with  the  utmost 
of  my  strength.     *     -     *     I  wrote  a  piece  on  the  subject 


FIRST    TASTORATE    IN    nilLADELPIIIA.  25 

which  made  my  preaching  so  troublesome  ;  and  on  its 
appearance  in  one  of  the  papers,  Dr.  Alexander,  of  Prince- 
ton, not  knowing  its  author,  pronounced  it  just.  And  at 
the  request  of  Professor  Hodge,  I  ampHfied  it  for  pubHca- 
tion  in  the  Princeton  Repertory,  where  it  may  be  seen. 
But  my  thoughts  on  it,  at  first,  were  not  perfect,  though 
on  the  way  to  perfection ;  I  was  right  in  condemning  the 
doings  of  the  unregenerate  ;  I  was  defective  in  not  dis- 
criminating between  them,  and  the  exercises  of  simple 
nature  which  are  generally  in  order  to  those  of  personal 
holiness." 

Nearly  fifty  years  later  he  passed  his  own  judgment 
upon  his  first  pastorate  in  Philadelphia.  It  is  a  gem 
of  Christian  humility,  candor,  and  magnanimity.  Let 
me  quote  a  few  sentences : 

"  A  retrospect  of  my  ministry  in  the  Second  Presby- 
terian Church  from  my  present  standpoint  in  time  con- 
vinces me  of  uncommon  imperfection  in  it,  from  first  to 
last.  I  fear  I  was  in  '  rash  haste  '  to  undertake  it.  But 
two  years  and  four  months  had  passed,  from  the  date  ot 
my  conversion ;  I  was  in  the  early  part  of  my  twenty- 
second  year ;  the  church  was  among  the  first,  if  not  the 
first  of  all,  of  the  Presbyterian  order;  m}'-  predecessor 
was  a  patriarch  and  ruler  in  it,  of  high  distinction.  I  had 
indeed  a  coadjutor,  and  this  was  urged  as  a  reason  which 
might  well  be  decisive.  But,  nevertheless,  my  accepting 
the  call  was  a  great  venture;  and  that  the  result  was  not 
my  ruin,  was  of  the  amazing  grace  of  God.  How  ought 
I  to  praise  Him  that  I  escaped  from  the  severe  ordeal  to 
serve  Him,  in  the  ministry,  for  nearly  half  a  century  after- 
Avards ! " 


24  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

If  he  had  been  the  only  pastor,  and  had  not  been 
interfered  with  from  without,  the  change  in  his  preach- 
ing would  not,  he  thinks,  have  displaced  him  ;  but  the 
unfriendly  influences  he  had  to  work  under,  made  him 
too  "  erect  and  indignant." 

"  My  preaching  was  positive,  unpliablc,  authoritative, 
heedless  of  its  bearing  on  my  position ;  there  was  too 
much  of  severity  and  terror  in  it,  too  much  of  rough  deal- 
ing with  the  old  doctrine  about  unregenerate  prayers, 
waiting,  etc. ;  too  little  consideration  of  my  youth  and  ex- 
perience ;  too  little  unction  and  gentleness." 

HIS    PASTORATE    IN    LOCUST    STREET. 

Soon  after  his  dismission  from  the  Second  Church 
he  accepted  a  call  to  the  Fifth  Presbyterian  Church, 
in  Locust  street ;  its  pastor,  the  Rev.  J.  K.  Burch,  hav- 
ing just  resigned.  He  was  installed  December  i,  1816. 
And  now  began  the  second  period  of  his  ministry  in 
Philadelphia ;  a  period  in  extreme  contrast  with  the 
first.  The  church  in  Arch  street  ranked  among  the 
foremost  in  all  the  land  for  intelligence,  character, 
wealth,  orthodoxy,  and  influence ;  its  voice  was  poten- 
tial in  ecclesiastical  affairs.  The  church  in  Locust 
street  was  hardly  known,  even  in  its  own  city  ;  its 
membership  was  small,  poor,  and  without  the  slightest 
pretension  to  culture  of  any  sort ;  its  meeting-house, 
a  wretched,  unsightly  building,  liable  to  be  blown 
down  by  the  first  storm,  in  an  obscure  out-of-the-way 
place,  and  burdened  with  a  debt  exceeding  its  value. 


HIS    PASTORATE    IX    LOCUST    STREET.  25 

Into  this  valley  of  humiliation  the  successor  of  Dr. 
Green,  in  the  Second  Church,  went  down  in  company 
with  about  seventy  of  his  old  flock,  who  refused  to 
part  from  him.  They  expected  to  stay  in  Locust 
street  only  a  short  time  ;  but  they  stayed  there  in  fact 
more  than  six  years.  They  fell  into  the  error  which 
has  often  been  committed.  They  tried  to  unite  uncon- 
genial elements,  and  build  up  a  vigorous  church  out 
of  an  old,  enfeebled  organization.  It  would  have  been 
much  better  had  they  formed  a  new  church  out  of  the 
new  homogeneous  materials.  The  consequence  of  this 
mistake  was  that  the  Locust  street  people,  very  different- 
ly trained,  and  belonging  to  another  sphere  in  life,  did 
not  coalesce  with  those  who  came  from  Arch  street. 
Numbers  of  them  left  and  joined  themselves  to  their 
former  pastor,  who  had  meanwhile  returned  to  the 
city.  The  disadvantages  and  trials  of  the  situation 
were  insuperable,  and  they  increased  from  month  to 
month.  For  some  years  almost  no  salary  was  paid ; 
people  who  liked  the  preaching  did  not  like  it  well 
enough  to  identify  themselves  with  such  a  sinking, 
hopeless  cause.  The  whole  movement  seemed  from 
first  to  last  to  be  only  a  dead  failure.  The  crisis  at 
length  approached,  when  it  would  be  necessary  to  sell 
the  building  in  order  to  pay  arrears  for  ground-rent. 

About  this  time  the  Presbyterian  church  in  New 
Orleans,  whose  pulpit  had  been  made  vacant  by  the 
death  of  the  youthful  and  eloquent  Sylvester  Larned, 
called  the  pastor  of  the  Locust  street  church  to  take 


26  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

his  place.  He  declined  the  call  on  condition  that 
another  edifice  should  be  built  for  him  in  a  better 
locality.  This  was  agreed  to.  Providence  signally 
favored  the  undertaking;  and  on  June  8,  1823,  the 
new  house  of  worship  on  Arch  street,  near  Tenth, 
was  dedicated,  Dr.  Miller,  of  Princeton,  preaching  the 
sermon. 

And  now  let  me  give  you  some  of  Dr.  Skinner's 
own  reflections  on  this  portion  of  his  ministerial  life : 

"  I  was  far  happier  and  of  better  courage  than  I  had 
been ;  and,  on  the  whole,  my  mistake,  if  I  made  one, 
turned  out  to  my  unspeakable  advantage.  I  had  ac- 
quired, through  the  influence  of  m}^  new  theological 
views,  an  independence  and  energy  of  thinking,  and  an 
ability  and  delight  in  preaching,  to  which  I  was  profound- 
ly a  stranger  before.  M}^  preaching  had  been  meagre, 
commonplace,  superficial ;  it  had  troubled  no  one  ;  it  was 
genera'.ly  acceptable,  but  it  required  on  my  part  little  vig- 
or of  thought,  and  neither  presupposed  nor  promised  im- 
provement ;  it  was  becoming  irksome  ;  it  made  no  use  of 
the  infinite  affluence  of  theology  ;  it  had  little  to  do  with 
the  mines  of  the  Inspired  Word  ;  its  material  was  what 
lay  on  the  surface,  it  had  been  used  again  and  again ; 
and  it  almost  seemed  that  nothing  new  was  left ;  that  I 
had  nearly  exhausted  the  substantive  matter  of  preach- 
ing. New  topics  there  were,  but  I  had  Httlc  really  new 
to  say  about  them.  I  fear  my  ministry  would  have  cul- 
minated in  commonplace,  but  for  the  impulse  it  received 
from  the  theological  novelt}-,  which  cost  mc  my  loss  of 
position.  AU,  however,  was  henceforth  new  in  my  work. 
I  became  a  thinker ;  I  threw  off  the  incubus  of  servility 


HIS    WORK    IN    ARCH    STREET.  2/ 

to  tradition  and  ecclesiastical  authority ;  I  revelled  in  the 
consciousness  of  being  m3'self ;  I  saw  myself  amidst  infi- 
nite treasures  of  divine  knowledge  and  wisdom,  wliich  a 
thousand  lives  would  be  too  short  to  begin  to  appropriate. 
My  mind  was  aglow  with  interest ;  its  life  and  activity 
could  not  be  suppressed ;  intense  application  became  its 
law,  its  habit,  its  unspeakable  pleasure.  Thus  changed  in 
the  inner  man,  I  began  my  Locust  street  labors.  My  min- 
istry there  was  the  seed-time  of  that  harvest  which,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  I  have  been  garnering  up  to  the  present 
day.  It  was  well  attended  by  persons  who  did  not  join 
the  church — persons  of  intelligence  and  influence.  It  was 
fruitful  in  the  religious  community.  It  prepared  the  way 
for  great  success  in  the  sequel  of  my  Philadelphia  course. 
Having  a  small  parish,  I  had  time  for  study  and  writing. 
I  have  made  few  discourses  better  than  those  which  I 
preached  in  this  poor  place." 

HIS    ARCH    STREET    LABORS. 

We  come  now  to  the  third  and  longest  period  of 
his  ministry  in  Philadelphia.  He  had  fairly  won  his 
way  to  a  position  of  the  highest  personal  and  theolog- 
ical influence.  The  day  of  his  humiliation  was  past. 
He  was  once  more  in  Arch  street,  the  sole  pastor  of 
a  strong  and  united  church.  His  people  w^ere  devot- 
edly attached  to  him,  and  the  whole  Christian  commu- 
nity held  him  in  honor.  A  day  of  uncommon  success 
and  spiritual  prosperity  had  dav/ned.  Soon  after  en- 
tering the  new  sanctuary,  he  began  a  series  of  Sabbath 
evening  discourses  upon  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 
Large  crowds  flocked  to  hear  them.     The  course  ran 


28  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

through  a  whole  year,  but  the  house  was  filled  to  the 
last,  and  the  interest  rather  increased  than  abated.  No 
sooner  was  this  course  finished,  than  he  announced  a 
doctrinal  series,  with  the  design  of  acquainting  the  peo- 
ple of  Philadelphia,  as  far  as  he  might  be  able  to  do  so 
in  this  way,  with  the  dogmatic  differences  between 
himself  and  those  who  had  charged  him  with  unsound- 
ness in  the  faith.  He  took  this  step,  not  without  mis- 
giving, both  in  his  own  mind,  and  on  the  part  of  some 
of  his  friends.  There  would  be  no  more  crowded  as- 
semblies to  hear  him,  it  was  said.  Sermons  on  doc- 
trines !  Alas  !  for  such  imprudence.  But  he  was  fixed 
in  his  purpose.  "  Prejudice  against  doctrinal  preach- 
ing," was  the  subject  of  his  first  discourse.  The  house 
was,  if  possible,  fuller  than  ever.  The  next  evening  it 
was  crowded  as  before.  The  third  evening  it  was  still 
filled  to  overflowing.  And  so  on  to  the  seventh,  when 
the  subject  was,  "  Original  Sin."  This  sermon  caused 
some  theological  commotion,  and  led  even  to  talk 
about  a  trial  for  heresy ;  but  he  was  not  molested. 
"  From  this  time  and  onward  to  the  end  of  the 
course,  I  doubt  not  the  house  would  have  been  over- 
full, if  its  capacity  had  been  threefold  larger.  Such 
^eagerness  to  hear  doctrinal  preaching !  The  course 
was  extended  through  six  months.  Its  eff"ect  was  very 
great,  both  upon  the  Presbyterian  sentiment  of  the 
city,  and  upon  the  Christian  public  at  large.  "  The 
doctrine  I  had  preached  was,  for  substance,  reproduced 
in  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Patterson,  a  mighty  revivalist, 


REVIVAL    SCENES.  29 

and  a  mighty  man  of  God.  Its  reproach  had  rapidly 
passed  away,  and  my  reproach  with  it.  Testimonies 
of  confidence  came  to  me  from  almost  eveiy  quarter. 
The  ministers  of  Newark,  Dr.  Richards,  Dr.  Griffm, 
Dr.  Spring,  of  New  York,  eminent  ministers  in  New 
England,  in  the  West,  near  and  remote,  gave  me  warm 
expressions  of  sympathy.  I  stood  well  with  the  Prince- 
ton professors.  I  was  made  one  of  the  Directors  of  the 
seminary,  Dr.  Green  nominating  me  to  the  Assembly  for 
the  place.  I  had  become  popular.  ....  My  preach- 
ing was  blest.  It  was  the  means  of  establishing  and 
extending  what  there  was  of  peculiarity  in  my  views. 
It  laid  the  foundation  for  large  success  in  the  eight 
following  years  of  my  ministry  in  Philadelphia." 

His  labors  during  these  eight  years  would  afford 
ample  material  for  an  entire  volume.  Should  a  full 
account  of  them  ever  be  published,  it  will  be  regarded, 
I  do  not  doubt,  as  one  of  the  most  striking  chapters 
in  the  annals  of  the  American  pulpit  and  pastoral  ex- 
perience. Richard  Baxter,  in  the  palmy  days  of  his 
Kidderminster  ministry,  could  hardly  have  surpassed 
him  in  abundance  of  preaching,  or  in  intensity  of  zeal 
and  devotion  to  the  work  of  saving  souls.  The  period 
was  marked  by  scenes  of  spiritual  refreshment  and 
power  truly  pentecostal.  PI  is  own  reminiscences  of  it 
a  third  of  a  century  later,  were  extremely  vivid.  How 
his  face  shone,  and  how  his  eye  beamed  with  the  old 
joy,  as  he  recalled  the  years  1827,  1S30-1-2,  and  re- 
hearsed the  w^onderful  works  and  manifestations  of  the 


30  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKIXNER. 

Spirit  of  God,  which  rendered  those  years  forever  me- 
morable. It  was  a  time  of  ijreat  revivals  of  relio-lon 
all  over  the  land.  That  of  183 1-2  was  especially 
powerful  and  wide-spread.  How  many  of  its  converts 
are  still  busy  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord !  •  Dr.  Skin- 
ner threw  his  whole  soul  into  the  movement.  He 
held  "  protracted  meetings,"  as  they  were  termed,  in  his 
own  church,  and  even  adopted  two  of  the  so-called 
"new  measures,"  although  he  was  not,  technically 
speaking,  "  a  new  measure  "  man.  One  of  the  meas- 
ures was  to  detain  persons  exercised  under  preaching, 
after  service,  for  further  action  with  them  ;  the  other, 
a  meeting  for  private  inquiry  on  a  future  occasion. 
His  course,  as  to  the  former,  comprised  generally  a 
pointed  address  to  the  persons  before  him,  a  prayer  in 
which  they  were  requested  to  indicate  determination, 
if  they  had  formed  it,  by  standing  up  ;  and  afterwards, 
conversation  with  them  individually.  At  the  inquiry 
meeting,  he  usually  made  an  address  to  all  present, 
after  which  he  conversed  with  them  one  by  one,  pass- 
ing from  place  to  place.  He  speaks  of  having  seen 
"wondrous  results"  from  both  these  expedients,  and 
gives  several  instances.  Flere  is  the  first  of  them : 
"  One  evening,  after  sermon,  I  invited  those  who  re- 
mained to  come  up  to  the  desk  before  the  pulpit. 
A  young  man  was  in  the  galler}^  to  whom  a  relig- 
ious friend  near  him  said,  after  the  invitation  had  been 

given,  '  Now,  T ,  is  your  time.'     The  young  man 

came   from  a  distant  seat,  walked  the  whole  length 


A    REMARKABLE    CONVERSION.  3I 

of  the  middle  aisle,  under  the  intensely  interested 
notice  of  every  eye  ;  and,  behold,  when  he  arrived  at  the 
desk,  his  mother,  coming  from  a  neighboring  pew, 
took  her  stand  by  his  side.  The  mother  and  son 
joined  the  church.  The  son  has  been,  for  many  years, 
an  eminent  minister  of  the  Gospel." 

REMARKABLE    CONVERSIONS. 

During  the  revivals  of  1827  and  1830-2,  some  very 
striking  conversions  took  place  under  his  preaching. 
One  of  them — that  of  the  distinguished  pastor  of  the 
Broadway  Tabernacle,  in  this  city — has  just  been  men- 
tioned. Another  was  that  of  the  late  Wm.  T.  Dwight, 
D.  D.,  for  many  years  pastor  of  the  Third  Congrega- 
tional Church,  in  Portland,  Me. — a  man  worthy  of  his 
descent  from  the  two  most  illustrious  Presidents  of 
Yale  and  Nassau  Hall,  and,  in  his  day,  one  of  the 
leading  ministers  of  New  England.  Mr.  Dwight  was, 
at  the  time,  a  lawyer  in  Philadelphia.  He  had  already 
won  distinction  at  the  bar  and  in  the  literary  world. 
Dr.  Skinner  has  left  on  record  a  deeply  interesting 
account  of  his  conversion."^ 

"  He  was  my  hearer  more  than  eleven  years ;  and  the 
anticipation  of  his  presence  in  my  audience  vras  always 
to  me  a  special  stimulant  and  a  regulative  power  in  my 

preparations  for  pulpit  work. I  think  my 

ministry  was  not  spiritually  profitable  to  him  until  the 

*  See  Prof.  Smyth's  Sketch  of  the  Life  and  Ministry  of  Dr.  Dwight, 
PP- 9-13- 


32  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINXER. 

spring-  of  1 83 1.  He  was,  so  far  as  I  know,  more  tender 
to  the  personal  bearing  of  divine  truth,  when  he  first 
came  to  the  city,  than  he  was  afterwards,  until  then.  At 
my  interview  with  him,  immediately  after  his  arrival,  he 
desired  me,  with  tears,  to  be  faithful  to  him  in  pastoral 
attentions;  but  when  some  years  afterwards,  at  a  season 
of  special  awakening  in  the  church,  I  conversed  with  him 
intimately  on  the  state  of  his  soul,  I  thought  some  of  my 
remarks  were  scarcely  welcome  to  him.  He  was  re- 
served and  distant,  and  I  soon  withdrew.  Perhaps  my 
manner  was  not  altogether  right,  but  I  was  quite  dis- 
couraged, and  did  not  soon  repeat  this  kind  of  conference 
with  him,  and,  probably,  should  never  have  done  so,  had 
he  not  taken  the  initiative  at  his  conversion.  There  was 
a  powerful  revival  of  religion  in  the  church  when  this  oc- 
curred. He  had  become  engaged  to  be  married  to  a 
member  of  our  communion,  an  eminently  pious  and  esti- 
mable young  lady  ;  she  became  intensely  anxious  for  him, 
and  not  less  so  for  herself,  as  espoused  to  a  man  whom 
she  regarded  as  unregenerate.  She  called  on  me  to  con- 
fer with  me  about  him,  and  about  her  duty  in  respect  to 
him.  We  had  a  Wednesday  evening  gathering,  at  which 
there  had  been  very  remarkable  manifestations  of  the 
Holy  Spirit's  presence.  Though  I  knew  he  was  not  in- 
terested in  night-meetings,  and  did  not  like  such  extem- 
poraneous addresses  as  I  was  wont  to  make  at  them,  I  ad- 
vised her  to  induce  him,  if  possible,  to  attend  this  service, 
and  to  keep  a  fast  with  reference  to  his  conversion  at  it. 
She  followed  my  advice.  At  the  next  occasion  of  it,  if  I 
remember  well,  Mr.  Dwight  was  among  the  attendants , 
he  sat  remotely  from  the  desk,  in  the  shade ;  and  I  did 
not  see  him  until  the  preliminary  devotions  were  finished  ; 


EFFECT    OF    A    WEEKLY    LECTURE,  33 

and  I  should,  perhaps,  not  have  noticed  him,  but  for  the 
green  spectacles  which  he  wore  to  soften  to  his  delicate 
sight  the  brilliancy  of  the  chandeliers  by  which  the  room 
was  lighted.  I  was  startled  with  surprise,  having  forgot- 
ten that  I  had  given  the  advice  to  my  young  friend,  of 
which  I  have  spoken,  and  never  having  seen  him  before, 
I  think,  at  a  night-meeting ;  but  now  it  occurred  to  me, 
v\-ith  great  force,  as  a  motive  and  as  implying  an  obliga- 
tion to  carry  out,  if  possible,  by  the  grace  of  God,  the  ob- 
ject of  it.  It  was  on  arising  to  speak  that  I  first  saw  Mr. 
Dw^ight.  Instantly  I  determined,  agitated  as  I  wms  with 
concern,  to  make  my  remarks  bear  directly  on  the  single 
point  of  his  being,  through  the  power  of  the  Spirit,  here 
and  now  brought  to  Christ.  I  believe  God  enabled  me 
to  form  the  determination,  and  assisted  me  in  fulfilling  it. 
INIy  impromptu  address  was  short ;  but,  though  I  knew 
not  this  till  the  third  day  afterwards,  it  was  eflectual. 
We  had  a  meeting  the  ensuing  Friday  evening,  when  I 
was  to  preach  our  w^eekly  lecture.  I  had  no  thought  of 
seeing  Mr.  Dwight  among  my  hearers  ;  but  on  entering 
the  house  I  was  again  troubled  by  seeing  him,  not  as  be- 
fore, sittijig  at  a  distance  in  the  shade,  but  close  to  the 
pulpit,  directly  under  the  blaze  of  a  chandeher.  His  ap- 
pearance indicated,  palpably,  that  he  was  deeply  excited  ; 
and  I,  too,  was  excited,  as  I  have  not  often  been,  with  a 
sense  of  my  responsibility,  and  with  fear  that  I  was  not 
prepared  to  meet  it.  I  had  premeditated  a  discourse  on 
Acts  xiii.  41 :  *  Behold,  ye  despisers,  and  wonder  and  per- 
ish;  for  I  work  a  work  in  your  days,  a  work  which  ye 
shall  in  no  wise  believe,  though  a  man  declare  it  unto 
you.'  My  purpose  was  to  alarm,  if  possible,  persons  who, 
at  such  a  season  of  grace  as  God  had  granted  to  our 

3 


34  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

Church,  were  without  concern  for  their  salvation.  As 
respected  what  I  assumed  was  Mr.  D wight's  case,  I 
thought  this  a  very  unseasonable  design ;  but  I  was  shut 
up  to  it ;  I  could  treat  no  other  theme.  The  perturbation 
of  my  mind  disqualified  me  from  treating  this  aright,  and 
I  was  greatly  discontented  with  my  lecture.  My  manner 
seemed  to  myself  harsh  and  severe,  and  to  the  last  degree 
unsuitable  to  persons  in  the  state  of  feeling  of  which  I 
was  sure  Mr.  D wight  was  the  subject.  In  accents  of 
unusual  alarm  and  terror,  I  thundered  the  divine  indig- 
nation against  the  indifferent ;  but  my  principal  endeavor 
in  the  discourse  was  to  set  forth  the  surpassing  glory  of 
the  work  of  God,  then  going  on  amongst  us  ;  whence,  to 
its  practical  despisers,  the  infinite  peril  denounced  in  the 
text ;  and,  as  appeared  the  day  following,  I  was  in  this 
part  of  my  labor  speaking  a  word  not  out  of  season  to 
him  who  that  night  engrossed  my  anxiet3^  I  dismissed 
the  assembly  with  the  liveliest  self-dissatisfaction,  thinking 
I  had  abused  one  of  the  best  opportunities  of  doing  good 
ever  afforded  me.  The  next  morning,  at  about  eight 
o'clock,  Mr.  D wight  called  at  my  house,  and  told  the 
servant  to  ask  me  if  I  could  see  him  during  the  day  ;  and, 
if  I  could,  to  say  at  what  hour  he  should  call  again.  I 
requested  him  to  come  to  me  at  eleven  o'clock.  He  was 
in  my  study  punctually  at  that  hour;  but  he  sat  several 
minutes  in  silence,  weeping  profusely,  his  face  swollen 
with  previous  emotion,  and  his  whole  frame  indicating 
sorrow  such  as  I  have  hardly  seen  in  my  whole  experi- 
ence in  the  ministry.  At  length,  with  a  suffused  coun- 
tenance, and  with  a  low,  hesitating  voice,  he  said :  "  I 
have  scarcely  slept  since  Wednesday  night;  I  was  in- 
duced to  attend  the  meeting  by  my  friend  ;  till  that  even- 


A    MEMORABLE    YEAR.  35 

ing,  I  had,  it  seems  to  me,  never  heard  the  Gospel;  my 
fcclini^^s  have  been  strange  and  wonderful ;  I  know  not 
how  it  is  with  me,  but  your  sermon  last  night  was  a  per- 
fect balm  to  my  soul.*  I  was  astonished,  but  he  went  on 
to  say  that  it  was  the  transcendent  glory  of  the  work  of 
the  Spirit,  as  depicted  in  the  discourse,  that  gave  him 
consolation  ;  and  I  thought  that  a  spiritual  apprehension 
of  this,  even  under  my  imperfect  representation  of  it, 
might  sufficiently  explain  his  new  experience.  I  could 
have  no  doubt  that  he  had  been  born  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Our  conversation  continued  for  sometime.  He  at  length 
left  me,  happier  than  I  can  tell,  to  go  on  with  my  prepara- 
tions for  the  pulpit  on  the  morrow.  Truly,  I  was  *  like 
them  that  dream.' " 

There  were  other  cases,  hardly  less  striking ;  but  I 
have  no  time  to  dwell  upon  them. 

THE    YEAR    1 82  7. 

I  must,  however,  refer  again  to  the  year  182 7,  which 
Dr.  Skinner  regarded  as  the  most  deeply  spiritual  of 
his  ministr)^  His  own  record  of  some  of  the  scenes ; 
which  he  witnessed  during  this  year,  is  singularly  inter- 
esting.   The  work  began  in  his  study : 

"  Spiritual  decline  in  the  parish  had  become  insupporta- 
bly  deep  and  predominant.  In  February,  or  early  in 
March,  two  brethren,  with  whom  I  had  conversed  on  the 
state  of  religion,  met  with  me  in  my  study  at  about  six 
o'clock,  A.  M.,  for  prayer.  We  passed  an  entire  hour  on 
our  knees,  one  following  another  in  confession  and  suppli- 
cation.    We  arose  under  a  strange  impression :  think  we 


36  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

were  filled  with  the  conflicting  and  humbling  influences 
of  the  Spirit :  talked  together  for  a  few  moments,  and 
parted  with  the  expressed  purpose  and  agreement  that 
we  would  see  others  of  the  church,  speak  to  them  of  the 
necessity  of  a  change  in  our  spiritual  condition,  and,  if 
they  sympathized  with  us  about  this,  inquire  whether  they 
would  like  to  attend  an  early  meeting  for  prayer  with  a 
few  others ;  and  if  they  were  quite  in  earnest,  to  invite 
them  to  be  with  us  the  following  morning.  Seventeen 
assembled,  every  one  like-minded  with  the  rest,  all  of  us 
on  our  knees  one  hour,  praying  one  after  another  as  self- 
prompted  to  do  so,  without  rising.  Agreed  together  to 
extend  our  application  to  others,  after  the  same  manner 
as  at  the  first  meeting:,  and  to  meet  ag^ain  the  next  morn- 
ing.  Not  less  than  sixty  were  present ;  every  one,  so  far 
as  we  can  judge,  in  the  same  state  of  feeling.  The  con- 
cern was  to  the  last  degree  lively  and  deep.  The  place 
(my  study)  was  too  strait.  Privacy  was  no  longer  practi- 
cable; a  morning  meeting  for  prayer  at  six  o'clock  was 
announced ;  the  place,  a  room  in  the  church.  The  con- 
cern became  notorious ;  and  its  character  was  in  keeping 
with  the  spirit  of  the  study  meetings.  A  fast-day  was 
agreed  upon.  The  room  in  the  church  was  filled  at  nine 
o'clock.  I  have  never  been  at  a  meeting  of  equal  interest. 
It  v/as  stated  at  the  beginning  that  there  had  been  no  pre- 
determination as  to  the  duration  of  the  meeting.  .It  might 
be  continued  longer  than  usual.  If  for  domestic  or  other 
reasons  persons  needed  to  vvithdraw,  they  could  do  so, 
and,  if  they  pleased,  return.  For  a  much  longer  time  than 
common,  the  services  were  exclusively  singing,  prayer 
and  reading  the  Scriptures.  They  were  strangely  inter- 
esting ;  the  Spirit,  apparently,  was  in  them  ;  they  were  as 


A    REMARKABLE    MEETING.  ;},'] 

powerful  prcacliinc^.  The  Word  was  luminous  with  its 
inherent  light ;  the  worship,  in  every  part,  was  wonder, 
ful ;  the  susceptibiHty  of  the  people,  the  impression  of 
divine  things  upon  them,  was  wholly  unexampled  in  all 
my  experience,  before  and  since.  The  truth  in  bare  texts 
of  Scripture,  in  verses  of  hymns,  in  utterances  in  prayer, 
was  quick,  powerful  and  as  a  two-edged  sword.  An  as- 
sembly so  moved  I  have  never  seen.  There  was  no 
noise,  no  visible  agitation,  but  an  emotional  stillness  like 
that  of  grief  at  its  lowest  depth.  No  outward,  audible 
expression  could  equal  the  feeling  or  have  any  place  as 
revealing  it. 

"  At  length  1  began  to  preach.  The  chief  of  my  points 
was:  The  means  of  actualizing  a  work  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
church.  When  I  was  speaking,  not  before,  I  think,  a 
renewal  of  our  covenant  as  a  church  occurred  to  me  as 
an  appropriate  means.  I  resolved  to  propose  it,  and  sent 
the  sexton  to  bring  the  book  containing  the  covenant. 
After  preparing  the  way  carefull}-,  the  solemn  act  was  to 
be  performed.  Two  of  the  brethren  arose,  one  after  the 
other,  and  with  flowing  tears  said  they  could  not  join 
with  us  in  it.  They  had  broken  this  covenant ;  the  guilt 
of  doing  it  was  upon  them  ;  they  trembled  at  the  propo- 
sal which  had  been  made ;  so  they  declared  in  tearful, 
thrilling  accents !  How  was  the  meeting  moved !  A 
brother,  greatly  esteemed,  and,  as  I  am  persuaded,  now 
filled  with  the  Spirit,  arose  and,  in  the  name  of  the  whole 
meeting,  offered  a  prayer  for  the  two  who  had  dissented. 
I  have  that  singular  prayer  still  in  remembrance,  almost 
as  if  I  had  just  now  heard  it.  What  a  soft,  subdued, 
melting,  just  audible  voice,  full  of  love,  like  the  dew  of 
Hermon  !     He  said  to  the  Lord  :  Let  these  brethren  un- 


38  *  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

derstand  that  they  cannot  release  themselves  from  their 
covenant  bonds  ;  that,  renew  them  or  not,  they  were  irre- 
vocably under  them  ;  that  their  having  broken  them  de- 
manded repentance,  but  could  not  justify  disowning  them. 
Then  he  most  touchingly  implored  that  they  might  be  in- 
duced to  change  their  purpose  and  unite  with  us  in  the 
holy  transaction.  I  proceeded ;  the  covenant  was  read  ; 
the  meeting  promptly  entered  into  it  anew  ;  the  two  breth- 
ren still  declining.  I  will  not  attempt  to  describe  the 
emotion  with  which  we  were  all  filled.  My  sermon — not 
shorter  than  two  hours,  I  am  quite  sure,  longer,  I  think, 
rather  than  shorter  —  was  finished;  at  four  o'clock  the 
meeting  was  dissolved." 

The  interest  continued  almost  unabated  to  the  end 
of  the  year.  The  number  of  conversions  was  not,  in- 
deed, as  large  as  in  subsequent  revivals ;  but  the  spir- 
itual life  of  the  church,  as  manifested  in  brotherly 
love,  unity,  fellowship,  delight  in  Christian  ordinances 
and  co-operation  in  Christian  work,  developed  itself  in 
marvellous  power. 

CALL    TO    BOSTON. 

Early  in  1828  Dr.  Skinner  was  called  to  the  Pine 
street  church  in  Boston.  The  contest  with  Unitari- 
anism  in  the  old  Puritan  capital  was  then  at  its 
height.  Dr.  Beccher,  who  had  come  from  Litchfield 
for  that  very  purpose,  was  waging  it  with  all  the  en- 
ergies of  his  great  soul,  and  he  entreated  Dr.  Skinner 
to  come  and  assist  him  in  the  stru2:G:lc.  The  Rev. 
Dr.  Wisner,  one  of  the  weightiest  men  in  New  Eng- 


GOES    TO    BOSTON.  39 

land,  was  sent  to  Philadelphia  to  plead  the  cause  of 
the  Pine  street  church  and  of  orthodoxy  in  Boston. 
Dr.  Ashbel  Green  seconded  his  appeal  to  the  Presby- 
tery ;  and  in  spite  of  the  protest  and  lamentations  of  the 
Arch  street  church,  the  call  was  put  into  the  hands  of 
Dr.  Skinner  and  accepted.  It  is  a  curious  circumstance 
that  he  had  scarcely  been  installed  in  Boston,  when 
Dr.  Beccher  was  called  to  the  vacant  pulpit  in  Phila- 
delphia. "  I  got  Skinner  a  call  to  Boston,  and  he 
came.  His  congregation,  to  be  up  with  me,  gave  me 
a  call  to  his  place,  and  got  several  persons  to  write 
urgently.  Among  others.  Dr.  Miller,  of  Princeton, 
wrote  an  argument,  very  strong,  and  when  it  was  read 
on  my  trial  at  Cincinnati  it  made  a  sensation."'"" 

Dr.  Skinner  remained  in  Boston  a  few  months  only. 
The  climate  proved  unfriendly.  He  had  accepted  the 
call,  in  part,  for  the  sake  of  his  health,  now  seriously  im- 
paired ;  but  his  health  grew  worse  instead  of  better ;  he 

*  Dr.  Beecher's  Life.     Vol.  II.,  p.  133. 

Dr.  Beecher's  account  of  the  visit  made  to  liim  by  a  committee  of  the 
Arch  street  church  is  highly  characteristic,  and  throws  light  upon  the  re- 
ligious and  theological  temper  of  the  times.  "When  the  two  gentlemen 
came  on  to  see  me  about  the  call,  I  took  them  into  my  inquiry  meeting. 
There  was  great  variety  of  cases.  Language  of  simplicity  came  along,  and 
they'd  see  me  talking  'way  down  in  language  fit  for  children,  and  then,  the 
next  moment,  rise  up  into  clear,  strong,  philosophical  language.  And  then 
the  language  of  free  agency  and  ability  came  along,  and  then,  they  told  me 
aftcr^vard,  they  thought  I  was  going  to  be  a — what  d'ye  call  it? — Arminian, 
and  they'd  stick  up  their  ears.  I  made  something  of  free  agenc)'  —  more 
than  a  Calvinist  would  do  usually — and  brought  folks  up  to  do  what  thc)' 
were  able  to  do.  But  next  minute  came  along  the  plea  of  morality  and 
self-dependence,  and  I  took  them  by  the  nape  of  the  neck  and  twisted  their 
neck  off.  So  they  saw  that  I  had  my  replies  according  to  the  subject,  and 
in  the  course  of  the  evening  heard  me  touch  on  seven  or  eight  or  more  dif- 
ferent states  of  mind." 


40  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

sighed  after  his  old  friends  in  Arch  street,  \vhile  they 
were  still  mourning  over  his  absence  from  them  ;  and,  ac- 
cordingly, at  their  earnest  entreaty  and  under  the  prom- 
ise of  an  assistant,  in  the  autumn  of  1828  he  returned  to 
Philadelphia  and  resumed  his  pastorate  among  them. 

"My  'deportation  to  Boston,'  as  Mr.  Barnes  has  called 
my  transference  thither,  (so  he  wrote  a  third  of  a  century 
later,)  was  no  disadvantage,  as  far  as  I  know,  in  any  re- 
spect. It  was,  in  effect,  a  blessing  to  Pine  street ;  and  it 
was  an  advantage  to  myself  It  was  the  means  of  ac- 
quainting me  better  with  men ;  it  brought  me  into  more 
intimate  relations  with-  Dr.  Beecher,  one  of  the  first  of 
American  ministers,  and  an  eminent  man  of  God  whom  it 
was  a  privilege  to  know  well ;  it  was  an  admirable  disci- 
pline to  my  spirit;  it  taught  me  to  estimate  more  justly 
my  dear  Arch  street  church.  It  was  to  them,  too,  a 
benefit.  It  prepared  them  to  receive  me,  on  my  return 
to  them,  with  a  lively  renewal  of  interest  in  me  and  in 
m)'-  pastorate.  I  did  not  delay  my  return.  With  a  heart 
overfull  of  joy  and  thankfulness,  I  resumed  my  ministry 
among  them.  There  was  great  joy  in  the  whole  church 
and  congregation.  What  a  happy  people  !  what  a  happy 
pastor!" 

For  a  while  after  his  return  he  was  assisted  by  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Stearns,  an  admirable  man,  whose  early 
death  was  a  severe  loss  to  the  American  church.  Dur- 
ing the  memorable  years  183 1-2,  he  was  greatly  aided 
at  diflferent  times  by  the  Rev.  Joel  Parker,  then  in  the 
full  glow  of  his  evangelistic  zeal  and  power;  and  also 
by  the   Rev.  Edward    Beecher,   in  conjunction  with 


IS    CALLED    TO    ANDOVER.  4^ 

whom  he  prepared  the  excellent  little  work  entitled, 
"  Hints  desio-ned  to  aid  Christians  in  their  Efforts  to 
convert  Men  to  God." 

AT    ANDOVER. 

In  the  autumn  of  1832  he  was  invited  to  take  the 
chair  of  Sacred  Rhetoric  in  the  Theological  Seminary 
at  Andover.     For  some   time  he  had  been  thought 
of  for  this  important  post.     He  was  already  widely 
known  and  greatly  admired  in  New  England.     He 
had  received  his  doctorate  of  divinity  from  Williams 
College  in  1826.     Many  of  his  summer  vacations  had 
been  spent  in  New  Haven,  where  he  was  on  terms  of 
affectionate  intimacy  with  Drs.  Taylor,  Fitch,  Good- 
rich, and  Bacon,  and  where  he  often  preached  with  ex- 
traordinary power ;  while  his  recent  pastorate  in  Bos- 
ton, brief  though  it  was,  had  left  a  strong  impression 
in  that  region.     He  had  just  delivered  the  annual  ad- 
dress before  the  Porter  Rhetorical  Society— one  of  his 
most  eloquent  productions.     It  was  not  strange,  there- 
fore, that  soon  after  his  return  to  Philadelphia  a  call 
reached  him  from  Andover,  accompanied  with  very 
urgent  persuasions  from  the  professors  and  the  stu- 
dents.    After  a  good  deal  of  hesitation  he  declined  it. 

"  A  very  remarkable  letter  from  Prof.  Stuart,  full  of  the 
noblest  feehng  and  surpassingly  eloquent,  and  one  also 
from  the  students,  urged  me  to  review  my  decision.  A 
review  of  it,  but  for  one  cause,  probably,  would  not  have 
changed  it.  My  labors,  the  happiest  of  my  life,  had  im- 
paired my  health." 


42  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

He  was  suffering,  in  fact,  from  a  serious  disease,  and 
his  physician.  Dr.  Physic,  advised  him  strongly  to 
make  the  change,  warning  him  that  he  could  not  long 
continue  his  labors  in  Philadelphia.  Under  the  press- 
ure of  this  consideration,  he  decided  to  go  to  Ando- 
ver.  But  to  the  close  of  his  days  it  remained  with 
him  a  question  whether  he  had  decided  wisely ;  in- 
deed, he  inclined  to  think  it  would  have  been  better 
for  him  to  have  stayed  among  his  own  people.  In  a 
review  of  his  Philadelphia  ministry,  written  in  1865, 
he  assio-ns  stronor  reasons  in  favor  of  this  view.  But 
I  venture  to  think  he  was  quite  mistaken  ;  and  that 
even  had  his  health  allowed  him  to  remain,  it  was  bet- 
ter for  him  to  leave.  It  seems  to  me  clear  that  God 
had  a  special  work  for  him  to  do,  which  could  have 
been  done  nowhere  else  than  in  New  York.  But  the 
truth  is,  his  whole  heart  clave  to  Philadelphia.  His 
work  there  was  to  him,  he  says,  as  heaven  upon  earth ; 
his  people  almost  idolized  him ;  he  and  they  were 
one ;  and  what  scenes  of  refreshing  from  the  presence 
of  the  Lord  they  had  passed  through  together!  No 
wonder  he  ever  after  looked  back  to  those  halcyon 
days  with  such  yearning  and  delight ;  or  that,  when- 
ever he  walked  again  the  streets  of  Philadelphia,  an 
unusual  buoyancy  marked  his  steps.* 

He  entered  upon  his  work  at  Andovcr  with  charac- 

*  While  this  discourse  is  passing  through  the  press,  I  have  received  a 
graphic  account  of  Dr.  Skinner's  ministry  in  Philadelphia  from  one  of  his 
oldest  and  most  esteemed  friends  in  that  city,  Mr.  Joseph  H.  Dulles.  It 
will  be  found  in  Appendix  B. 


AT   ANDOVER.  43 

teristic  zeal  and  singleness  of  mind  ;  but  soon  found 
out  that  it  was  very  different  work  from  preaching  the 
gospel. 

"  What  a  novice  in  teaching  Sacred  Rhetoric  !  It  is 
a  harder  business,  in  comparison,  than  teaching  in  eith- 
er of  the  other  departments.  Dr.  Griffin  returned  from 
it  to  preaching  again  after  a  short  trial.  Dr.  Porter  did 
M-ell  in  it,  in  some  respects  ;  but  it  was  to  him  very  oner- 
ous ;  he  died  before  his  time.  I  think  it  was  he  who  said, 
that  it  was  easier  to  find  a  hundred  men  to  fill  the  theo- 
logical chair,  than  one  for  that  of  Homiletics.  It  was  a 
new  business  in  the  American  church.  Theology  had 
been  nearly  all  in  all  in  sacred  education.  Homiletics 
had  no  place  in  it." 

Dr.  Skinner  labored  hard,  at  Andover  and,  after- 
wards, in  our  own  Seminary,  to  raise  this  study  to  its 
proper  place.  Drawing  from  the  rich  stores  of  his 
own  experience,  he  applied  the  art  of  preaching  to 
sermons  on  the  chief  topics  of  theology,  and  showed 
how  they  should  be  treated  in  the  pulpit.  In  this  way 
he  himself  taught  theology  as  well  as  Homiletics,  and 
asserted  his  right  to  do  so  with  earnestness  and  decis- 
ion. He  magnified  his  office  as  one  of  unsurpassed 
dignity  and  importance  in  the  training  of  effective 
ministers  of  the  gospel. 

But  lecturing  at  the  Seminary  was  not  his  only  oc- 
cupation at  Andover.  Besides  preaching  in  his  turn 
in  the  chapel,  he  preached  frequently  on  Sabbath-eve- 
ning to  the  two  academies,  in  which  were  some  four 


44  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

hundred  young  persons,  of  both  sexes.  In  the  pulpit 
of  the  North  parish,  in  those  of  Boston,  Newburyport, 
and  other  places,  his  voice  was  often  heard.  Preach- 
ing was  still  his  greatest  delight ;  and  wherever  he 
went  crowds  came  together  to  hear  him.  He  took 
especial  pleasure  in  assisting  at  "  protracted  meetings," 
and  his  sermons  on  such  occasions  were  pungent  and 
effective  in  the  highest  degree. 

A    PROTRACTED    MEETING. 

Let  me  give  his  own  account  of  one  of  these  meet- 
ings. It  was  at  Newburyport.  The  Presbyterian  and 
Orthodox  Congregational  churches  were  united  in  it. 

"  A  work  of  God  so  powerful  and  so  extensive  through 
a  whole  population,  I  have  seen  in  no  place.  The  Unita- 
rians and  Episcopalians  did  not  oppose  it.  Its  subject 
was  the  town  ;  revival  was  the  rule,  indifference  was  ex- 
ceptional, and  the  exception  was  unnoticed.  Every  in- 
terest was  displaced,  or  subordinated,  by  interest  in  relig- 
ion. .  .  .  Newburyport  (Whitefield's  monument  was  here) 
was  full  of  God's  special  presence.  How  awful  was  this 
place!  The  meeting  ended  on  a  Sabbath -evening.  I 
have  not  seen  a  parallel  occasion.  There  was  a  general 
convocation  in  the  Rev.  JNIr.  Milton's  church,  the  largest 
in  the  tovv^n.  A  special  arrangement  was  made  to  ac- 
commodate male  attendants.  They  occupied  the  pews 
below  ;  females  sat  in  the  gallery.  I  never  saw  so  inter- 
esting a  mass  of  men.  They  were  of  middle  age,  very 
vigorous,  healthful,  masculine,  intelligent  ;  as  closely 
packed  as  possible  ;  not  less  in  number,  it  was  supposed, 


A    PROTRACTED    MEETING.  45 

than  a  thousand.  The  large  gallery  contained  nearly  as 
many  women.  All  the  ministers  were  present.  After 
sermon,  Dr.  Dimmick  said  to  mc  :  '  I  wish  you  would  re- 
peat here  what  was  done  at  the  Andover  protracted 
meeting.'  '  I  am  ready  but  cannot  proceed  without  the 
consent  of  the  other  ministers  (the  venerable  Dr.  Dana 
was  one  of  them).'  *  They  cannot  refuse  in  the  circum- 
stances.' He  consulted  them  ;  they  promptly  concurred. 
I  then  made,  for  substance,  the  following  address  to  the 
solemn  assembly  : 

"  '  We  have  been,  for  several  days  considering  with  un- 
usual seriousness  and  care,  the  great  concern  of  our  etern- 
it}'.  The  subject  is  now  in  our  thoughts  more  distinctly 
and  completely,  than  it  was  ;  and,  probably,  than  it  will 
ever  be  in  this  world.  This  very  evening  Ave  have  been 
weighing  it  in  the  balance  of  judgment  very  particularly 
and  carefully  (JJoiinting  the  cost.  Luke  xiv.  28-32,  was 
my  theme).  It  is  probable  that  very  many  of  you  have 
impressions  of  it  juster  and  deeper  than  you  have  hereto- 
fore felt.  Would  it  not  be  well  if  you  should  to-night,  ere 
you  return  to  your  homes,  determinedly  decide  in  accord- 
ance with  these  impressions  ?  If  you  should  depart  without 
deciding,  will  you  be  likely  to  decide  at  all,  or,  if  you 
do,  to  decide  as  truly,  as  you  will,  if  you  decide  here  and 
now  ?  Will  you  have,  at  any  other  moment,  equal  advan- 
tages for  deciding  aright?  You  are  greatly  moved,  it 
may  be  ;  but  you  must  be  so  moved  when  the  decision  is 
made,  if  it  be  a  right  one.  The  opposing  influences  of 
sin,  the  Avorld,  and  Satan,  cannot  be  overcome,  but  by  the 
strongest  counter  influences.  It  is  not  these  latter  influ- 
ences, but  the  others,  that  are  likely  to  be  too  strong. 
Get  av.-ay  from  the  holy,  heavenly  influences  under  which 


46  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

we  are  now  sitting,  and  think  ye,  that  ye  will  have  better 
advantages  for  exercising  judgment  and  discretion  in  ref- 
erence to  the  infinite  interests  of  your  immortality.  Will 
worldly  business  or  society,  will  your  families,  will  your 
closets,  even,  offer  you  a  better  chance  for  right  action  in 
this  case,  than  this  holy  place,  filled  as  it  is  with  the  gra- 
cious presence  of  God  ?  It  is,  therefore,  proposed  to  you> 
that  you  make  the  prayer  about  to  be  offered,  an  expres- 
sion of  a  deliberate  in-wrought  determination  to  be  hence- 
forth, by  the  grace  of  God,  followers  of  Christ.  And  if 
you  accept  this  proposal,  to  indicate  that  you  do,  by 
standing  up,  by  yourselves,  when  the  prayer  is  offered. 
Those  of  you,  who  have  already  made  a  religious  profes- 
sion, or  who  do  not  accept  the  proposal,  not  being  will- 
ing to  commit  yourselves  to-night  to  the  obligations  and 
relations  of  a  Christian  life,  are  requested  to  remain  sit- 
ting ;  that  the  others  may  be  distinguished  from  3'ou.' 

"  When  the  usual.  Let  us  pray,  was  spoken,  the  scene 
was  a  more  imposing  one  than  any  other  assembly  I  ever 
saw  presented.  Hardly  less  than  five  hundred  large  men, 
and  nearly,  or  quite,  as  many  women,  were  instantly 
on  their  feet.  I  have  never  heard  that  '  the  measure,' 
in  this  instance,  was  objected  to  by  any  one.  The  cir- 
cumstances and  the  result  were  its  justification.  It  has 
been  reported  that,  as  the  fruit  of  this  protracted  meeting, 
about  one  thousand  persons  were  received  into  the  churches 
of  Newburyport  and  that  neighborhood  ;  and  that  very 
few  of  them  have  failed  to  maintain  a  Christian  character." 

PASTOR    OF    THE    MERCER    STREET    PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH,    NEW  YORK. 

In  the  year  1835,  a  number  of  Christian  people, 


COMES    TO    NEW    YORK.  47 

connected  with  the  Laight  street,  the  Bleccker  street, 
and  other  Presbyterian  congregations  in  this  city,  de- 
termined to  form  a  new  church  and  erect  a  new  edi- 
fice iip-tow^i.     They  appHed  to  Dr.  Skinner  to  take 
charge  of  the   movement.     He  consented  to  do  so. 
The  church  was  organized  October  25,  1835,  ^^'^^  on 
the  Sth  of  November  he  was  installed  as  its  pastor. 
For  six  months  divine  ser\'ice  was  held  in  the  chapel 
of  the  University.     In  the  spring  of  1836,  the  pleasant 
.house  of  worship  in  Mercer  street  was  finished  and 
dedicated  to  God.     And  here  commenced  Dr.  Skin- 
ner's last,  and,  in  some  respects,  most  important  pas- 
torate.   He  was  not  unwilling  to  leave  Andover.   The 
duties  of  his  professorship  he  had  discharged  with  emi- 
nent fidelity  and  success  ;  but  they  were  somewhat 
irksome  to  him.     He  was  in  the  full  vigor  of  intellec- 
tual manhood  ;  his  health  was  restored  ;  and  the  pul- 
pit was  still  his  throne.     He  loved  to  preach  as  he 
loved  no  other  w^ork.     The  call  to   New  York  was 
very  strong  and  attractive.    Some  of  the  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  the  city,  were  en- 
listed in  the  new  movement.     If  he  was  £ver  to  return 
to  the  pastoral  life,  now  was  his  opportunity.     He 
never  regretted  the  change.     And  as  we  look  back  to 
it,  and  consider  what  interests  were  involved,  we  can- 
not doubt  that,  in  making  it,  he  acted  most  wisely 
and  in  full  accordance  with  the  will  of  God.     What 
other  man,  then  living,  could  have  taken  his  place  and 
done  his  work  in  this  city  ?     The  great  schism  in  the 


48  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

Presbyterian  church  was  soon  to  occur.  The  Union 
Theological  Seminary  was  about  to  be  founded.  Dr. 
Skinner's  histor}^.his  uncommon  weight  of  personal 
and  ministerial  character,  his  wide  acquaintance  and 
intimacy  with  leading  men  in  New  England  and 
the  Middle  States,  and  his  position  as  the  pastor  of 
one  of  the  strongest  metropolitan  churches,  gave  him 
an  influence  in  the  New  School  body,  and  in  sus- 
taining as  well  as  shaping  the  course  of  the  Union 
Seminary,  which  nobody  else  could  have  wielded. 

I  have  time  barely  to  touch  upon  his  thirteen  years 
in  the  Mercer  street  church.  They  w^ere  years  of 
most  faithful,  unwearied  and  successful  labor.  Some- 
thing of  his  youthful  fire  in  the  pulpit,  something  of 
his  old  popularity,  was,  no  doubt,  wanting.  But  what 
ripeness  of  Christian  experience,  what  clear  insight 
into  divine  things,  what  scriptural  and  theological 
power,  what  rousing  appeals  to  both  the  natural  and 
the  regenerate  man,  what  holy  unction,  particularly 
in  seasons  of  special  interest  and  revival  marked  his 
preaching !  With  what  almost  inspired  fervors  of 
soul  he  led  the  devotions  of  the  sanctuary  !  How 
he  fed  the  people  of  God  with  the  finest  of  the  wheat ! 
The  characteristic  features  of  his  own  religious  life 
and  temper — deep  spirituality,  reverence  for  God  and 
sympathy  with  God  in  His  demands  upon  man,  a 
profound  feeling  of  the  reality  and  infinite  evil  of  sin, 
passionate  desire  of  holiness  ;  an  adoring  sense  of  the 
glory  of  Christ,  of  the  saving  virtue  of  His  sacrifice  of 


HIS    PASTORATE    IX    MERCER    STREET.  49 

Himself  upon  the  cross,  and  of  the  blessedness  of  vital 
union  with  Him  by  faith  ;  high  views  respecting  the 
entire  consecration  of  person,  time,  talent,  property, 
everything,  to  the  service  of  the  Master,  by  every  one 
of  His  disciples  ;  a  conviction  that  the  man,  who  has 
made  up  his  mind  to  take  right  views  of  sin,  has  made 
up  his  mind  to  go  through  this  world  very  much 
alone  ;  joy  in  the  Lord,  and  exulting  assurance  of  the 
coming  triumphs  of  His  kingdom  ; — these  all  were 
equally  marked  characteristics  of  his  ministry  in  the 
Mercer  street  church. 

He  was  aided  in  his  work  by  a  noble  band  of  elders 
and  brethren.  Few  churches  in  the  land  combined  so 
much  intelligence,  maturity  and  weight  of  character, 
earnest  piety,  public  spirit,  catholicity,  and  large-hearted 
pecuniary  liberality,  with  so  much  attractive  social  and 
domestic  culture,  as  the  Mercer  street  Presbyterian 
church,  during  the  first  thirteen  years  of  its  existence. 
What  honored  names — Markoe,  Mason,  Shipman, 
Phelps,  father  and  son,  Bull,  Boorman,  Butler,  Wilder, 
De  Forest,  Wainwright,  Lockwood,  Noyes,  Haines, 
Blatchford,  Coit,  and  others  like  them — not  to  speak 
of  the  living — adorn  its  history. 

"  It  was  a  people  (to  use  his  own  language)  as  worthy 
of  the  best  type  of  pastoral  labor  as  any  one  I  have 
known.  I  felt  it  to  be  so.  The  sense  of  my  responsibility 
was  more  than  I  could  endure.  My  health  failed  under 
the  severe  pressure  of  my  duties.  Another  sphere  awaited 
me.  I  was  again  professor  in  a  theological  school." 
4 


50  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

PROFESSOR    IN    THE    UNION    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY. 

We  come  now  to  the  closing  period  of  his  pubHc 
hfe.  He  resigned  his  pastoral  charge  February  1 7, 
1848  ;  and  in  March  of  the  same  year,  was  inaugurated 
Professor  of  Sacred  Rhetoric,  Pastoral  Theology  and 
Church  Government,  in  the  Union  Theological  Semi- 
nary in  this  city.  Here  he  labored  without  interrup- 
tion for  w^ell-nigh  a  quarter  of  a  century.  He  was 
fifty-seven  years  old  on  taking  the  chair  ;  he  was  al- 
most eighty  years  old  when  he  left  it  for  his  seat  in 
glory.  His  appointment  was  one  of  singular  fitness. 
As  a  Director  of  the  Institution,  he  had  from  the  first 
been  identified  with  its  history,  and  felt  the  deepest 
interest  in  its  prosperity.  But  for  his  powerful  aid 
and  that  of  his  church,  it  would  probably  either  have 
had  no  existence,  or  would  have  perished  in  its  in- 
fancy. The  position  to  wiiich  he  was  called  required 
the  highest  type  of  personal  and  Christian  character, 
large  pastoral  experience,  a  thorough  acquaintance 
with  the  art  of  preaching  and  the  care  of  souls,  the 
best  literary  and  theological  culture,  in  union  with 
generous  sympathies  and  an  unfailing  spirit  of  broth- 
erly kindness  and  charity  in  dealing  with  the  doubts, 
the  trials,  and  the  imperfections,  of  young  men  preparing 
for  the  sacred  office.  Dr.  Skinner  possessed  all  these 
qualifications  in  a  very  unusual  degree.  For  a  third 
of  a  century  he  had  been  one  of  the  first  preachers 
and  sacred  orators  in  the  land  ;  as  a  pastor  and  guide 


HIS    SERVICE    IN    UNION    SEMINARY.  5 1 

of  souls  he  had  few  equals  ;  he  was  an  accomplished 
scholar,  enthusiastic  in  the  pursuit  and  discussion  of 
theological  truth,  and  able  to  excite  similar  enthusi- 
asm in  others  ;  his  piety  was  full  of  spiritual  depth 
and  unction  ;  and  he  was  a  model  of  the  Christian 
gentleman.  He  had,  moreover,  discharged  the  duties 
of  this  very  chair,  for  several  years,  in  the  leading 
seminary  of  New  England,  besides  having  written 
and  published  a  number  of  admirable  essays  on  sub- 
jects connected  with  it. 

I  will  not  attempt  now  a  review  of  his  labors,  or  a 
full  estimate  of  what  he  accomplished,  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Union  Theological  Seminar}'-.  That  will  be 
done,  in  due  time,  I  trust,  by  one  of  his  colleagues,  or 
by  one  of  his  old  pupils.  He  brought  to  his  new  task, 
as  we  have  seen,  rare  gifts  ;  and  he  devoted  all  of 
them  to  it  without  stint.  He  was  as  faithful,  diligent, 
and  totus  in  iilis,  in  the  theological  chair,  as  he  had 
ever  been  in  the  pulpit.  He  began  at  once  a  thorough 
course  of  study  on  the  different  branches  of  his  profes- 
sorship. The  fruit  of  his  industry  soon  appeared  in 
Vinet's  "  Pastoral  Theology,"  and  "  Homiletics,"  trans- 
lated and  edited  by  him  with  excellent  taste  and  skill. 
Had  he  done  nothing  else  than  to  give  these  two 
precious  works  to  the  Christian  public,  he  would  have 
rendered  his  department  an  invaluable  service.  He 
prepared  his  lectures  with  the  utmost  care,  and  con- 
tinued to  re-write  and  improve  them  to  the  last.  His 
intercourse  with  his  pupils,  both  in  and  out  of  the 


52  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

class-room,  was  not  merely  that  of  a  teacher ;  it  was 
also  the  fellowship  of  a  friend  and  brother  in  Christ. 
He  invited  them,  one  by  one,  to  visit  him  at  his  home ; 
he  manifested  an  affectionate  personal  interest  in  their 
fortunes  ;  he  sympathized  tenderly  with  them  in  their 
mental  struggles,  cheered  them  in  their  despondency, 
was  very  patient  and  considerate  towards  their  faults, 
and  helped  them  by  his  prayers  and  with  the  lessons 
of  his  own  experience,  to  get  the  victory  over  their 
religious  doubts  and  perplexities.  For  this  how 
many  of  them,  now  scattered  far  and  wide  through 
the  earth,  bless  God  at  every  remembrance  of  him  !'^" 
And  in  years  to  come,  w^hen  the  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  transplanted  to  the  neighboring  height,  now 
waiting  to  be  adorned  by  it,  and  thence  shedding 
light  and  blessing  over  all  lands,  shall  recount  God's 
favors  to  it,  this  will  be  reckoned,  I  do  not  doubt, 
one  of  the  most  signal — that,  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  it  enjoyed  the  instructions,  the  friendship,  and 
the  prayers,  of  ThO'mas  H.  Skinner  as  one  of  its  pro- 
fessors ! 

INCIDENTS    OF    TRAVEL. 

Dr.  Skinner's  life  was  passed  chiefly  in  his  study 
and  in  absorbing  devotion  to  the  practical  duties  of 
his  calling.  He  had  little  fondness  for  travel,  or  for 
any  business  that  took  him  away  from  home.  His 
journeying  was  confined  mostly  to  an  annual  visit  to 

*  In  Appendix  C  will  be  found  two  striking  testimonies  on  this  point 
from  old  pupils  of  Dr.  Skinner. 


VISITS    TO    THE    OLD    WORLD.  53 

the  scenes  of  his  boyhood  in  North  CaroHna,  to  an 
occasional  attendance  upon  the  sessions  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  and  to  two  visits  to  the  Old  World. 
He  first  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  1839.  It  was  next  to 
martyrdom  for  him  to  go  ;  but  ill-health  and  the  en- 
treaty of  friends  at  length  prevailed,  and  he  took  pas- 
sage in  the  Great  Western.  His  first  Sabbath  in  Eng- 
land was  spent  at  Bristol.  At  the  close  of  w^orship, 
he  relates  that  he  w^as  accosted  by  a  person  of  gen- 
tlemanly appearance,  who,  hearing  that  he  had  just 
arrived  from  America,  inquired  of  him,  if  he  was 
acquainted  with  "the  great  Dr.  Channing .?"  The 
conversation  led  him  to  refer  to  another,  and,  as  he 
thought,  still  greater  man,  then  living  near  Bristol. 
"  Who  ?"  "  Mr.  John  Foster,  of  Stapleton."  The  gen- 
tleman had  never  heard  of  such  a  man  !  Dr.  Skinner 
shortly  after  visited  Mr.  Foster,  was  very  kindly  re- 
ceived, and  left  him  with  a  deepened  impression  of 
his  worth  and  greatness.  From  Bristol  he  proceeded 
to  London,  thence  across  the  channel  to  Germany, 
then  back  to  London  through  Belgium,  and  from 
London  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  had  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  Dr.  Chalmers. 

"  Received  by  him  with  the  utmost  cordiality  and  sweet- 
ness of  manner.  Was  as  free  in  the  company  of  this  great 
man  as  if  I  had  been  an  equal.  Walked  with  him  through 
the  Botanical  Gardens.  He  wanted  me  to  admire  a  fine 
panorama  of  the  city  and  its  environs  ;  but  my  admira- 
tion was  so  absorbed  in  the  man,  that  I  could  hardly  no- 


54  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

tice  anything  else.  An  inexpressible  beauty  in  the  char- 
acter of  Dr.  Chalmers Dr.  C,  ver}^  unlike  Foster, 

but  quite  as  simple  in  manner.  How  happy  to  have  '  laid 
eyes'  on  two  such  men  !  Cathedrals,  scenery,  all  sights 
and  spectacles — how  vapid,  compared  with  these  speci- 
mens of  intellectual  and  spiritual  excellence  !  In  all  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  there  is  not,  me  Judicc,  the  like  of 
them." 

He  returned  home  in  the  autumn  in  the  British 
Queen,  narrowly  escaping  shipwreck  on  the  passage. 
In  1846,  I  believe,  he  crossed  the  sea  again,  and  as- 
sisted at  the  formation  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance 
in  London. 

For  many  years  before  his  death  he  was  accustomed 
to  pass  his  summers  at  Newport,  R.  I.  The  spot  be- 
came so  much  endeared  to  him  that,  on  resigning  his 
chair  in  the  seminary  —  as  he  had  intended  to  do 
this  spring — he  meditated  making  it  a  home  for  the 
rest  of  his  days.  Dr.  Channing,  though  born  and 
brought  up  there,  can  hardly  have  loved  Newport 
more.  He  passed  much  of  his  time  in  reading  and 
study,  enlivened  by  intercourse  with  old  friends,  and,  oc- 
casionally, by  a  fishing  excursion,  which  revived  the 
memories  of  his  boyhood  on  the  pleasant  shores  of 
Albemarle  Sound.  He  also  took  a  lively  interest  in 
the  church,  whose  services  he  attended,  and  at  whose 
weekly  evening-meeting  his  voice  was  often  heard  in 
prayer  and  exhortation.'"* 

*  See  in  Appendix  A,  an  extract  from  a  sermon  by  its  pastor,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Thayer,  preached  shortly  after  his  death. 


HIS  TIMES.  55 


THE    TIMES    HE    LIVED    IN. 


In  reviewing  the  character  of  Dr.  Skinner,  a  glance 
at  the  times  in  which  his  lot  was  cast,  will  aid  us 
greatly.  The  nearly  three  score-years,  covered  by  his 
ministry  and  teaching,  form  one  of  the  most  wonder- 
ful periods  in  secular  history,  and  one  no  less  remarka- 
ble in  the  history  of  the  Church.  In  some  of  its  as- 
pects there  is  nothing  else  like  it  in  the  annals  of  the 
race.  It  was  marked  by  extraordinary  revivals  of 
religion.  It  was  a  new  era  of  missionary  zeal  and 
evangelism  at  home  and  abroad.  Our  theological 
seminary — now  one  of  the  grand  educational  institu- 
tions of  American  Christianity  —  belongs  to  this  pe- 
riod. More  Bibles  have  been  circulated  during  these 
sixty  years,  many  times  over,  than  in  all  previous  ages. 
Nearly  the  whole  globe  has  been  opened,  for  the  first 
time,  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  What  amazing 
events  and  changes  in  the  social  and  secular  spheres 
have  come  to  pass  since  1812,  I  need  not  stop  to  tell 
you.  And  if  there  were  any  three  points  01^  the  con- 
tinent where  the  best  and  strongest  religious  forces 
of  this  marvelous  epoch  were  concentrated,  they  were 
Philadelphia,  that  old  haunt  of  Presbyterianism,  An- 
dover,  which  may  be  taken  as  representing  New  Eng- 
land, and  this  cosmopolitan  city  of  New  York.  At 
these  three  central  points  Dr.  Skinner  spent  the  whole 
of  his  public  life.  Nor  did  he  merely  feel  the  full 
influence  of  the  dominant   religious   forces;    he  was 


56  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

himself  one  of  them.  He  took  part  in  the  new  move- 
ments with  his  whole  mind  and  soul  and  strength. 
And  thus  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  his  own  spirit  were 
continually  acting  and  reacting  upon  each  other.  Al- 
though a  man  of  strong  individuality,  full  of  fresh, 
original  traits,  he  was  also  a  man  of  singular  intellec- 
tual susceptibility  and  power  to  absorb  the  good  with 
which  he  came  in  contact,  whether  in  books  or  in  real 
life.  The  ruling  sentiments,  the  benevolent  aims,  and 
the  bright  hopes  of  the  new  era,  that  so  many  thought 
was  to  usher  in  the  millennial  glory,  were  wrought  into 
his  spiritual  consciousness  and  inspired  his  whole  ca- 
reer. One  of  his  old  friends  and  parishioners,  the  late 
Hon.  Benjamin  F.  Butler — an  admirable  judge — said 
to  me  once,  that  Dr.  Skinner  reminded  him  of  the 
canonized  saints  and  fathers  of  the  Church  ;  and  for  fer- 
vent piety,  devotion,  and  knowledge  of  divine  things,  he 
deserved  well  to  be  ranked  among  that  illustrious  and 
goodly  company  ;  but  still  he  was  a  true  representative 
of  his  own  age — a  child  not  of  the  third,  or  the  twelfth, 
or  the  sixteenth,  but  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Among  his  most  intimate  friends  and  co-laborers,  at 
different  periods  of  his  ministry,  were  such  men  as  Dr. 
James  P.  Wilson,  Rev.  James  Patterson,  Dr.  Lyman 
Beecher,  Moses  Stuart,  and  Albert  Barnes, — men  who 
made  a  profound  impression  upon  him,  as  they  did 
upon  their  generation.  He  tenderly  cherished  their 
memories  and  always  spoke  of  them  in  terms  of  affec- 
tionate and  grateful  admiration. 


FAVORITE    AUTHORS.  57 

HIS    FAVORITE    AUTHORS. 

And  this  suggests  a  word  about  his  favorite  authors. 
They  were  the  old  Puritan  divines  of  the  seventeenth 
century— Owen,  Baxter,  Flavel,  John  Howe— Thomas 
h   Kempis   and  Archbishop    Leighton,-^=-    Pascal,   and 
President  Edwards;  and  among  recent  writers,  above 
all  others,  John  Foster,  Isaac  Taylor,  and  Vinet.     He 
regarded  Howe  as  a  very  prince  of  divines.     Of  the 
treatise  on  the  Trinity  by  that  great  nonconformist,  he 
not  long  since  spoke  to  me  as,  in  his  view,  unequaled. 
But  hi^  reading  was  by  no  means  confined  to  these 
authors.      His  library  contained  not  only  the  great 
masters  of  English  and  American  religious  thought, 
but  the  gr^it  masters  in  philosophy,  poetry  and  gen- 
eral literature  as  well.     In  a   conversation  with  him 
not  long  before  his  death,  he  spoke  of  the  lively  pleas- 
ure he  had  received  from  reading  some  portions  of 
Mr.  Emerson's  "  Society  and  Solitude."    He  had  a  cath- 
olic  taste   and   delighted   himself  exceedingly  in  all 
good  books,  whether  old  or  new.     Indeed,  his  mind 

*  The  following  passage  occurs  in  his  note-book,  under  the  date  July  9, 

''"The  eye  of  a  godly  man  is  not  fixed  on  the  false  sparkling  of  the  world's 
pomp,  honor  and  wealth;  it  is  dead  to  them,  being  quUe  ^^  ^d  ^^  ^ 
Leater  beauty  The  grass  looks  fine  in  the  morning,  when  U  is  set  with 
Sli'uTd  earls,  the  drops  of  dew  that  shine  upon  it,  but  if  you  can  00k 
but  a  little  while  on  the  body  of  the  Sun.  and  then  look  down  aga  n,  he  e)  e 
is  L  it  were  dead  ;  it  sees  not  this  faint  shining  on  the  earth  that ,  thought 
so  gay  before  ;  and  as  the  eye  is  blinded  and  dies  to  .t,  so  wuh.n  a  f  w 
hours,  that  gaiety  quite  evanishes  and  dies  of  itself."-LEiGUTON,  i  Pet.  n. -4- 

Ne;t  to  the  inspired  books,  I  must  place  this  work  of  Le.ghton  s ;  and 
think  that  in  his  remarks  on  this  a4th  verse  of  Chapter  II.  he  transcend, 
himself. 


58  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

was  SO  open  and  hospitable  to  new  thoughts,  that  he 
was  quite  incHned  to  esteem  them  the  best  it  had  ever 
known  or  entertained. 

HIS    THEOLOGY. 

Of  his  theological  position  and  views,  I  need  add 
but  little  to  what  has  been  said  already.  He  com- 
menced his  ministry  at  a  time  when  religious  life  and 
opinion  were  about  to  assume  new  types  and  to  de- 
velop themselves  with  vehement  force  ;  and  such  times 
are  apt  to  be  marked  by  more  or  less  of  misunder- 
standing, strife  and  division.  Dr.  Skinner  belonged  to 
what  became  known  as  New  School ;  he  was  in  full 
sympathy  with  that  side ;  and  he  avowed  his  convic- 
tions without  fear  or  favor.  But  no  candid  person  can 
read  his  writings,  as  none  could  have  heard  him  preach, 
without  perceiving  that  he  w^as  a  sound,  earnest,  highly 
evangelical  and  orthodox  divine  of  the  Calvinistic 
type.  He  himself  was  veiy  far  from  feeling  that  the 
New  School  were  all  right  or  the  Old  School  all 
wrong.  His  mature  judgment  was — not  to  speak  now 
of  mere  questions  of  ecclesiastical  policy — that  while 
both  schools  agreed  in  being  truly  Calvinistic,  and 
both  alike  sincerely  adopted  the  Westminster  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrine 
taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  the  points  in  which 
they  really  differed  were  of  minor  consequence,  and 
concerned  not  the  vital  substance  of  the  Gospel,  but 
only  the  best  modes  of  viewing,  stating  and  explain- 


HIS   THEORY    OF    PREACHING.  59 

ing  certain  of  its  dogmatic  truths.     He  believed  in 
progress  of  religious  thought,  and  loved  to  quote  th* 
pithy  saying  of  Dr.  Owen  :  "  Let  new  light  be  derided 
whilst  men  please  ;  he  will  never  serve  the  will  of  God 
in  his  generation,  who  sees  not  beyond  the  line  of 
foregoing  ages."     But  believing  also  in  the  divine  au- 
thority and  fullness  of  "  the  faith  once  delivered  to 
the  saints,"  he  had  no   notion  that  it  needed  to  be 
completed  or  could  be  improved  by  modern  thought. 
Theological  science  would,  no  doubt,  continue  to  ad- 
vance with  the  advancing  knowledge  and  experience 
of  the  Church ;  but  Christianity  itself,  as  a  revelation 
of  God's  will  and  a  way  of  salvation,  was  and  had  been 
from  the  beginning  perfect  and  entire,  wanting  noth- 
ing.    He  was,  therefore,  both  conservative  and  liberal ; 
conservative  in  holding  fast  to  the  old  apostolic  doc- 
trine, as  taught  in  the   Holy  Scriptures ;    liberal   in 
striving  and  in  bidding  others  strive  to  attain  a  more 
complete  and  practical  understanding  of  it." 

HIS    THEORY    OF    PREACHING. 

His  theory  of  preaching  was  very  high  and  was  in 
harmony  with  his  theory  of  Christian  truth.  It  was 
all  summed  up  in  the  address  on  "  Preaching  Christ," 
delivered  from  this  pulpit  to  the  graduating  class  of 
the  Seminary  three  years  ago.  Who  that  was  present  can 
have  forgotten  the  opening  sentence  of  that  address  } 

*  Some  excellent  remarks  on  this  subject  may  be  found  in  his  discourse 
entitled  "The  Old  in  the  New,"  delivered  by  him  as  the  retiring  Modera- 
tor of  the  General  Assembly,  in  St.  Louis,  May  17,  1S55. 


6o  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

"  I  feci  that  it  becomes  me  to  be  considerate  as  to  what 
i  should  say  to  you  now,  probably  the  last  time  I  shall 
speak  on  an  occasion  like  the  present.  Aware  of  my  close 
proximity  to  the  end  of  my  course,  I  would  fain  place 
myself  there,  and  speak  as  I  shall  wish  I  had  done  if  the 
ear  were  never  to  hear  my  voice  again.  How  unsuitable 
to  my  position  and  age  were  an  utterance  from  my  lips 
now  such  as  man's  vanity  or  '  man's  wisdom '  teacheth !" 

Preach  Christ;  preach  of  the  ability  which  the 
Holy  Spirit  giveth  ;  preach  thus  to  the  utmost  of 
your  strength. 

■  These  maxims,  or  precepts,  contain  the  vital  essence 
of  his  homiletics ;  and  he  unfolds  and  enforces  them, 
in  this  address,  in  a  manner  truly  apostolic.  He  laid 
the  utmost  stress  upon  making  Christ's  sacrifice  of 
Himself  the  chief  element  in  preaching  Him. 

"  The  immediate  intendment  of  this  preaching  is  a  re- 
production  of  Christ  as  an  atoning  Saviour  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  hearers ;  to  effect  which  it  strives  to  'set  Him 
forth'  as  '  before  their  eyes,'  '  crucified,'  hanging  on  the 
accursed  tree,  bearing  there  our  sins  in  His  own  immacu- 
late body.  Preaching  Christ  is  successful  with  reference 
to  its  proximate  purpose,  in  proportion  as  it  succeeds  in 
this  endeavor.  Paul  tells  the  Galatians,  (iii.  i,)  that  such 
was  his  success  as  a  preacher  to  them  in  this  respect,  that 
the  scene  of  the  crucifixion  was,  in  effect,  vividly  re-en- 
acted in  their  very  presence.  This  is  what  the  preaching 
of  Christ  aspires  to,  and  what  it  achieves  when  it  gains 
its  direct  end,  as  a  suasory  or  rhetorical  effort.  Evangel- 
ical preaching,  in  its  just  idea,  is  a  divine  ordinance  for 


HOW    TO    PREACH    CHRIST.  6 1 

giving,  as  perfectly  as  possible,  a  life-presence  to  the 
transaction  of  Christ's  immolation,  under  Pontius  Pilate, 
'at  the  place  of  a  skull,'  outside  of  the  city  of  Jerusalem; 
for  giving  this  tragical  transaction  universality  ;  for  mak- 
ing it,  in  effect,  to  all  mankind,  everywhere,  and  to  the 
end  of  the  world,  a  living  reality,  as  taking  place  in  their 
presence-a  reaUty  the  greatest  that  ever  came  or  ever 
will  come  to  pass. 

''  Such,  then,  my  dear  brethren,  must  be  the  manner  of 
your  preaching,  if  you  would  have  it  true  to  the  purpose 
of  its  institution.  It  implies  no  restriction  as  to  particular 
subjects.  It  only  demands  that  whatever  subject  you 
treat,  your  sermon  on  it  be  filled,  as  completely  as  pos- 
sible,' with  Christ  as  suffering  the  death  of  the  cross  to 
atone  for  the  sins  of  the  world  ;  that  you  make  Christ,  in 
this  view  of  His  passion,  the  essence  and  life,  the  ^  succus  et 
sanguis  of  your  entire  ministry;  that  you  make  the  great 
atonement  pulsate  through  the  whole  and  each  particular 
instance  of  your  preaching,  as  the  heart  of  a  vigorous 
body  pulsates  through  all  its  members  and  fibres." 

In  applying  the  second  maxim,  he  uses  this  im- 
pressive language : 

"  Be  out  of  communion  with  the  Holy  Spirit  in  preach- 
ing; be  without  his  cooperation  in  it,  and  what  will  be  its 
ch'Iracter  before  Him  who  understands  it,  and  whom 
alone  it  supremely  concerns  you  to  please  ?  Think  of  the 
peculiarity  of  the  business  of  preaching:  were  it  but  a 
common  operation  of  spiritual  life,  you  could  perform  it 
only  as  aided  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  No  man  can  say  that 
Jesus  is  the  Lord,  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  But  this  sing- 
ular work  of  pubhc  preaching:— What  is  done  on  earth, 


62  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

might  I  not  say,  in  heaven,  of  higher  spirituality  ?  It  is 
not  merely  human,  it  is  strictly  divine-human  work  ;  work 
impossible  even  to  the  apostles  before  they  received  the 
illapse  of  the  Holy  Ghost !  Nay,  we  are  told  expressly 
that  our  Lord  himself  received  the  Holy  Ghost  to  qualify 
him  for  preaching  the  Gospel.  Preaching,  speaking  as 
God's  mouth,  the  infinite  things  of  the  Spirit ;  so  speak- 
ing, with  discernment,  with  feeling,  with  words,  and  with 
delivery,  suited  to  the  nature  and  purpose  of  the  busi- 
ness ;  can  you  wonder  that  the  mightiest  of  the  reform- 
ers, even  when  near  the  end  of  his  course,  never  ascended 
the  pulpit  '■sine  trcuiorcf  Nay,  can  you  be  surprised  that 
even  Paul  confessed  himself  to  hav^e  been  agitated  '  with 
fear,  and  much  trembling,'  in  his  ministry  among  the  Co- 
rinthians ?  (i  Cor.  ii.  3.)  But,  if  you  would  fulfill  the  for- 
mer precept,  take  heed  to  the  present  one,  and  you  will, 
3'ou  cannot  but  attain  your  end.  You  will,  of  necessity, 
preach  Christ,  if  you  preach  with  the  Spirit's  help.  He 
gives  no  aid,  no  countenance,  in  preaching  aught  else. 
Christ  is  the  Holy  Spirit's  only  theme,  To  shov/  Christ, 
to  glorify  Christ,  is  his  mission  in  the  world.  In  preach- 
ing, especially,  the  chief  part  of  which  belongs  to  him,  this 
is  his  only  aim.  Preach,  then,  without  preaching  Christ, 
and  what  is  it  that  you  do?  You  are  about  some  busi- 
ness of  your  own,  not  what  the  Spirit  is  intent  upon.  If 
he  is  in  any  manner  with  you,  it  is  not  to  produce  through 
you  a  specimen  of  true  preaching;  you  make  discourse 
simply  natural,  not  spiritual;  it  is  only  a  huinan,  not  a 
divine-human  production.  He  may  be  very  intellectual, 
very  eloquent,  very  admirable ;  the  Spirit  may  in  some 
way  serve  himself  of  it.  His  doing  so  does  not  change 
its  character,  or  imply  his  approbation  of  it.     He  is  not 


TREACII    WITH    ALL    YOUR    MIGHT.  63 

pleased  with  it ;  he  certainly  is  not  pleased  with  you  ;  he 
does  not  bless  you — your  praise  is  of  men,  not  of  him : 
you  have  your  reward." 

In  enforcing  his  third  maxim,  he  says:    • 

"  The  main  reason  for  this  precept  is  that  it  is  only  by 
observing  it  that  you  can  carry  out  to  completion  the  two 
former  ones.  Only  by  such  diligence  applied  to  preach- 
ing Christ  through  divine  aid,  can  you  make  full  proof 
of  your  ministry.  And  this  reason  will  prevail  with  you, 
so  far  as  the  force  of  consistency  or  congruity  prevails. 
In  the  first  place  you  cannot  but  observe  it,  if  you  obey 
the  precept  I  have  been  just  enforcing — if  you  are  led  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  your  ministr}^ — for  the  earnestness  of 
the  Spirit  in  this  business  is  unmitigated.  What  must  be 
the  intensity  of  your  working  if  it  coincides  with  that  of 
the  Spirit  of  God  ?  His  zeal  in  the  work  is  like  the  zeal  of 
Christ,  of  which  it  is  written  that  it  consumed  him,  'ate 
him  up.'  And  it  never  abates ;  it  is  as  an  ever-burning 
flame  of  fire.  It  varies  in  its  applications ;  it  is  sometimes 
seemingly  latent  and  even  regressive ;  it  has  apparent 
rests  and  cessations,  but  even  in  these  its  energy  is  unre- 
strained, its  proper  temper  is  still  as  '  the  melting  fire 
when  it  burneth.'  Correspondently,  your  preaching  must 
needs  vary  in  its  particular  instances  and  seasons,  but  it 
will  not  vary  in  its  inherent  temper  if  it  continue  in  keep- 
ing with  the  temper  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  activity,  and  it 
ought,  as  far  as  possible,  to  do  so.  '  Whereunto  I  also 
labor,'  says  Paul,  'striving  according  to  his  working 
which  worketh  in  me  mightily.'  Keep  yourself,  then, 
according  to  your  measure,  in  cooperation  with  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  preaching.     Take  him  as  your  antecedent  and 


64  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

prompter  in  the  business,  and  think  what  must  be  the 
general  type  of  your  ministry?  Among  ministers,  to 
whom  will  you  willingly  give  precedence  in  energy  of 
determination,  in  necessity  and  urgency  of  action?  To 
Edwards  or  Brainerd,  or  Whitfield  or  Baxter,  or  any 
other  model  preacher  ?  Will  your  mark  of  aspiration  be 
lower  than  that  of  St.  Paul  ? 

"  But,  again,  the  Spirit's  tone  of  working  apart,  will  the 
proper  preaching  ijnpu/ses,  the  motive  forces  which  have 
play  in  the  work,  permit  any  voluntary  short-coming  or 
slackness  in  your  ministry?  What  arc  these  motives? 
One  of  them  is  love  for  the  perishing  souls  of  men,  preach- 
ing being  the  chief  means  of  their  salvation.  How  impos- 
sible to  be  really  actuated  by  this  love,  without  being, 
for  the  time,  absorbed  by  it?  The  whole  world  is  with- 
out value  compared  with  the  value  of  a  human  soul. 
Consider  that  the  actual  salvation  of  the  meanest  soul  of 
man  gives  cause  for  new  joy  to  the  angels  of  God  ;  con- 
sider that  there  was  no  ransom  for  such  a  soul  less  costly 
than  the  Great  Redeemer's  precious  blood.  How  incon- 
ceivable, that  one  should  be  intelligently  in  earnest  in 
seeking  to  save  immortal  souls,  without  putting  himself 
into  his  effort  wholly  and  absolutel3^  And  3'our  life-work, 
remember,  is  as  one  such  effort  prolonged  to  the  end  of 
your  course.  You  are  consecrated  to  saving  men  by  your 
vocation  and  ordination  as  preachers.  Were  this  the  only 
impulse  to  diligence,  might  it  not  be  well  asked :  *  What 
man  on  earth  is  so  pernicious  a  drone  as  an  idle  clerg}^- 
man  ?'  But  there  is  a  mightier  impulse;  not  your  love 
of  souls,  but  a  sense  in  you  of  the  innncasurable  love  wJiich 
Christ  had  for  them.  This  motive  had  such  force  in  the 
ministry  of  Paul — a  model  to  you,  my  brethren — that  it 


HIS   CATHOLIC    SPIRIT.  65 

caused  him  to  be  thought  beside  himself,  (2  Cor.  v.  13.) 
Was  it  excessive  in  this  great  example  ?  There  remains 
a  motive  greater  yet  than  this,  one  inchiding  the  two  for- 
mer, but  of  far  wider  scope  than  either  of  these,  namcl}-,  a 
sc/isc  of  the  surpassing  glory  of  the  redemptive  scheme,  or  of 
the  glory  of  God  as  thereby  displayed ,  glory  transcend- 
inof  that  of  all  other  Divine  works,  whether  of  creation  or 
providence.  Be  but  touched,  my  young  brethren,  with  a 
sense  of  this  glory,  (and  why  should  you  not,  like  Paul, 
like  Whitfield,  live  continually  in  its  blaze?)  and  what  will 
be  able  to  restrain  or  impair  your  energy  as  preachers?" 
I  have  quoted  these  passages  for  a  twofold  reason, 
because  they  contain  the  result  of  Dr.  Skinner's  life- 
long thought  and  study  on  the  great  subject  of  preach- 
ing, and  because  they  afford,  also,  a  much  more  faith- 
ful picture  than  any  words  of  mine  could  give  of  his 
own  ideal  and  practice,  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel. 

HIS    CATHOLIC    SPIRIT    AND    DELIGHT    IN    REUNION. 

I  have  spoken  of  his  views  of  Christian  truth  and 
of  the  right  way  to  preach  it.  His  theory  of  Christian 
life  and  fellowship  was  in  keeping  with  both.  He  ab- 
horred all  narrovv^ness,  bigotry  and  mere  sectarian  zeal. 
His  whole  course  as  a  minister  and  theological  teach- 
er, and  not  less  his  early  religious  associations,  led  him 
to  cherish  the  warmest  sentiments  of  fraternal  sympa- 
thy and  affection  for  all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  in  sincerity.  Episcopalians,  Methodists,  Bap- 
tists, and  Dutch  Reformed,  were  among  his  dearest 
friends.  With  Congregationalists  his  relations  were 
especially  close  and  cordial ;  indeed,  for  several  years 
5 


66  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

he  had  Hved  among  them  and  been  himself  one  of 
them.  And  although  loyal  and  earnest  in  devotion  to 
his  own  branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  some  of 
his  most  cherished  intimacies  were  with  members  of 
the  other  branch.  I  may  mention  the  venerable  Dr. 
Hodge,  of  Princeton,  for  whose  expositions  of  the  In- 
spired Word  he  often  expressed  his  admiration,  and 
between  whom  and  himself  there  subsisted,  for  more 
than  half  a  century,  a  most  tender  and  devoted  friend- 
ship.* He  deemed  it  a  matter  of  vital  importance  to 
the  rapid  progress  and  triumph  of  the  Gospel,  that  all 
the  true  disciples  of  Christ,  of  whatever  name,  should 
be  brought  nearer  together.  When  the  movement 
toward  Reunion  commenced,  he  watched  it  with  deep 
interest,  gave  it  his  approval,  his  counsels  and  his  pray- 
ers, advocated  it  on  the  floor  of  the  General  Assembly, 
at  Harrisburg,  in  a  most  impressive  speech,  and  hailed 
its  consummation  with  intense  joy  and  thankfulness, 
as  an  event  full  of  promise  to  the  whole  American 
church. 

HIS    PATRIOTISM. 

It  was  the  habit  of  his  mind  to  take  a  large  and  lib- 
eral view  of  public  events,  both  in  the  religious  and 
the  political  sphere.  Let  any  one  read  his  sermon  on 
"Love  of  Country,"  preached  in  December,  1850,  a 
time  of  great  party  excitement ;  or  his  sermon  on 
"  Education  and  Evangelism,"  preached  in  October  of 

*  Sec  in  Appendix  A,  a  letter  of  Dr.  Ilodgc  to  the  Faculty  of  the  Union 
Theological  Seminary. 


IIIS    VIEWS    OF    SLAVERY.  6/ 

the  same  year,  and  he  will  be  impressed  with  this  fact. 
In  the  first-mentioned  sermon  he  expresses  himself  on 
the  subject  of  Slavery  in  the  following  manner: 

"  This  is  becoming  a  subject  of  extreme  interest  in  this 
countr}'.  It  is  moving  deeply  our  religious  bodies,  enter- 
ing with  great  earnestness  and  with  decisive  effect  into 
our  political  contests,  and  profoundly  agitating  our  na- 
tional councils.  As  Christian  patriots,  we  cannot  be  jus- 
tified in  holding  toward  it  the  position  of  neutrality  or  in- 
difference. It  is  not  probable  that  the  excitement  which 
has  been  created  will  subside  without  some  result  of  im- 
portance to  the  nation.  What  course  does  true  patriot- 
ism require  us  to  take  in  regard  to  it  ?  Let  no  man  con- 
tent himself  with  denouncing  the  excitement  as  the  fruit 
of  fanatical  zeal.  That  cannot  be  done  indiscriminately 
w'ithout  casting  reproach  on  not  a  few  of  the  most  excel- 
lent and  honored  of  our  citizens,  and  also  without  disre- 
gard to  historic  truth.  This  movement  in  our  nation,  un- 
happily as  it  has  proceeded  in  too  many  instances,  is  re- 
ferable to  a  spirit  in  the  age — an  invincible  spirit,  we  trust 
it  will  prove  to  be  found  —  which  seeks  the  universal 
emancipation  of  man,  w^hich  should  be  resolved  into  the 
triumph  g{  Christian  truth  as  its  remote  cause,  and  which 
republican  America,  as  having  proclaimed  to  the  world 
the  natural  equality  of  mankind  from  the  beginning  of  her 
independence,  cannot,  without  palpable  inconsistency, 
resist.  Slavery,  as  a  system,  should  find  advocates  every- 
where throughout  the  earth  sooner  than  in  this  land  of 
freedom.  It  should,  and  we  hope  soon  will  be,  the  uni- 
versal desire  that  the  institution  utterly  cease." 


68  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

When,  ten  years  later,  the  crisis  arrived  and  the  war 
of  Secession  burst  upon  our  country,  Dr.  Skinner 
showed  himself  a  Christia-n  patriot  of  the  highest  or- 
der. Though  himself  a  native  of  the  South,  and  still 
bound  to  it  by  the  tenderest  ties,  he  did  not  hold  back, 
or  waver,  for  a  moment ;  he  spoke  out,  with  a  loud 
and  clear  voice,  for  the  cause  of  the  Union  ;  he  prayed 
for  its  success,  as  only  he  could  pray ;  he  hailed  the 
Proclamation  of  Emancipation  with  w^arm  approval ; 
and  when  the  mighty  struggle  ended  in  the  triumph 
of  the  nation,  and  the  overthrow  of  Slavery,  he  blessed 
God  that  he  had  lived  to  see  the  day ! 

Almost  to  the  last  hour  of  his  life  he  read  eagerly 
the  public  journals,  and  watched  the  course  of  events 
with  as  much  interest  as  if  he  were  just  entering  upon, 
instead  of  just  leaving,  the  stage  of  earthly  affairs.  He 
fully  sympathized  with  Germany  in  the  late  gigantic 
contest,  and  anticipated  grand  results  to  the  cause  of 
humanity  and  Christian  truth  from  her  splendid  tri- 
umph. The  results  of  the  Vatican  Council,  whose 
proceedings  he  carefully  followed,  would  also,  he  be- 
lieved, though  in  a  different  way,  turn  out  for  the  fur- 
therance of  truth  and  righteousness. 

HIS    DOMESTIC    CHARACTER. 

Of  his  domestic  and  social  virtues,  I  would  gladly 
speak  at  length.  As  son,  brother,  husband,  father  and 
friend,  his  life  was  crowned  wnth  beauty.  Nobody 
knew  him  as  he  reallv  was,  who  did  not  know  him  at 


niS    RELATION    TO    HIS    BROTHER   JOSEPH.  69 

the  fireside.  The  relation  which  subsisted  between 
his  eldest  brother  and  himself,  as  depicted  by  his  own 
pen,  is  full  of  the  very  poetry  of  friendship.'"'  He  had 
an  exquisite  sense  of  character,  and  could  portray  it 
with  the  skill  of  a  master.  His  portrait  of  Mrs.  Low- 
ther,  "  the  loveliest,  most  beautiful,  most  interesting  of 
women,"  as  he  calls  her,  is  one  of  the  finest  things  I 
know  of  in  the  language.f  The  genial  glow  and  en- 
thusiasm of  his  nature,  which  rose  so  high  in  his  relig- 
ious life,  gave  an  exceedingly  rich  flavor  also  to  his 

*  Sec  "A  Sketch  of  the  Life  and  Character  of  the  late  Joseph  B.  Skinner. 
B}-  his  Brother,  Thomas  H.  Skinner."  For  the  account  of  Dr.  Skinner's  pa- 
rents, birth-place,  ami  other  incidents,  I  am  indebted  to  this  interesting 
little  volume.  It  should  be  here  stated  that,  although  his  brother  Joseph 
sharply  opposed  his  giving  up  the  bar  for  the  pulpit,  the  alienation  was  of 
short  continuance.  It  is  due  alike  to  the  elder  and  the  younger  brother  to 
quote  the  following  passage  from  the  Memoir  :  "  But  for  his  kindness  I 
should  not  have  been  sent  to  college.  Under  his  direction  and  at  his  ex- 
pense, I  prosecuted  a  course  of  preparation  for  the  bar  until  near  the  time 
of  my  admission  to  it,  when  I  tried  his  affection  to  the  uttermost  by  what  he 
could  not  but  regard  as  a  very  sudden  and  rash  refusal  of  his  choice  of  a 
profession  for  me.  Tempted  strongly,  hy  mj'  disappointing  thus  his  fondest 
and  long-cherished  hopes  respecting  me,  to  leave  me  to  myself,  after  a 
season  of  intense  displeasure  from  him,  his  former  munificence  returned  to 
me,  to  forsake  me  no  more  till  we  were  separated  b}^  his  death.  Wherever 
I  have  been,  there  have  ever  been  with  me  decisive  proofs  of  his  thoughtful 
and  constant  affection.  In  my  seasons  of  severe  trial,  I  have  always  had 
\he  aid  of  his  wise  counsel  and  his  effectual  sympathy;  and  when  my  use- 
fulness has  been  restricted  by  want  of  opportunit}^  his  hands  have  been 
opened  to  provide  the  means  of  supply.  For  my  favorable  position  in  Phil- 
adelphia, the  latter  half  of  my  course  there,  the  seed-time  of  my  ministry, 
I  was  mainly  indebted,  under  the  divine  blessing,  to  his  influence,  his  sug- 
gestive wisdom,  and  his  purse.  When  in  another  city  I  was  exhausted  and 
faint  from  labor,  he  urged  me  to  travel  in  Europe  for  my  restoration  to 
health,  and  put  at  my  disposal  the  means  of  compliance  with  his  plan.  He 
has  always  been  afflicted  in  my  affliction,  and  happy  in  making  me  and  my 
household  happy.  And  this  tribute  from  me  maybe  taken  as  an  indication 
of  what  he  was  substantially  to  his  other  relations." — pp.  49,  50. 

f  See  Appendix  D. 


70  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

earthly  affections.  You  could  not  sit  at  his  table,  talk 
with  him  at  his  fireside  or  on  his  doorsteps,  or  meet 
him  casually  at  the  corner  of  the  street,  without  feeling 
its  sweet  attraction.  I  have  passed  many,  many  happy 
hours  with  him  ;  but  none  happier,  or  whose  memory 
is  more  fragrant,  than  those  spent  in  his  own  house, 
with  his  wife  and  children  and  grandchildren  about 
him.  Outside  of  his  own  immediate  family,  he  had  a 
wide  circle  of  friends,  both  old  and  young,  in  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  and  elsewhere,  with  whom,  as  time 
and  opportunity  permitted,  he  kept  up  to  the  last  an 
affectionate  intercourse.  How  they  will  henceforth 
miss  his  wonted  visits !  A  young  lady,  to  whom  he 
had  greatly  endeared  himself  by  his  spiritual  counsels 
and  kind  sympathy,  wrote  to  me  shortly  after  his 
death :  "  I  miss  him  so  terribly  !  I  try  not  to  dwell 
on  him,  yet  sometimes  in  the  night  I  awake  with  a 
burst  of  tears,  as  he  comes  visibly  before  me  even 
in  sleep."  On  last  New- Year's  day  he  started  early 
and  called  upon  an  unusual  number  of  his  old  friends. 
If  the  households,  that  were  blessed  on  that  day  with 
his  presence  and  godly  conversation,  had  foreseen  that 
in  a  single  month  he  would  be  in  heaven,  they  could 
hardly  have  been  more  vividly  conscious  of  the  privi- 
lege they  were  enjoying.  He  had  just  come  from 
a  union  morning  prayer-meeting,  and  his  face  still 
shone,  while  his  heart  seemed  to  be  running  over  with 
devout,  grateful  and  tender  emotions.  His  closing 
years  were,  indeed,  the  ideal  of  a  Christian  old  age  ; 


HIS   TRAITS    OF    CHARACTER.  7 1 

full  of  patriarchal  benignity,  gentleness,  sympathy  and 
love. 

HIS    MENTAL    AND    PERSONAL    TRAITS. 

The  leading  features  of  his  menial  character  have, 
perhaps,  appeared  sufficiently  in  the  preceding  narra- 
tive. The  natural  bent  of  his  mind  was  reflective  and 
logical,  rather  than  imaginative.  He  speaks  of  having 
become  conscious,  early  in  his  college  course,  that  he 
had  a  gift  for  mathematics  and  for  the  investigation  of 
abstract  truth ;  and  to  the  end  of  life  he  delighted  in 
books  and  studies  which  required  the  most  strenuous 
exercise  of  pure  intellect.  If  this  tendency  had  not 
been  modified  and  counterbalanced  by  the  depth  and 
fervor  of  his  convictions,  he  would  never  have  been 
the  powerful  preacher  that  he  was  ;  indeed,  in  the  later 
years  of  his  ministry  his  sermons  suffered,  perhaps, 
some  disadvantage  from  a  too  predominant  intellect- 
ual tone.  The  profound  and  discriminating  analysis, 
which  renders  them  so  instructive  in  the  reading,  de- 
tracted somewhat,  doubtless,  from  their  popular  effect 
in  the  hearing.  But  in  the  earlier  periods  of  his  min- 
istr}^  this  was  far  from  being  the  case.  If  his  preach- 
ing even  in  those  days  was  unmarked  by  any  special 
power  of  illustration  or  play  of  fancy,  it  glowed  with 
a  spiritual  fire  and  energy  of  soul,  which  fused  into 
one  his  most  elaborate  expositions  of  Christian  doc- 
trine, with  all  his  high-wrought  arguments  and  appeals, 
bringing  them  home  to  the  conscience  and  heart  of 


72  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

his  hearers  as  a  veritable  message  from  God  !  For 
intellectual  vigor  and  discrimination,  combined  with 
impassioned  spiritual  convictions,  and  the  best  results 
of  scriptural  and  theological  study  and  reflection,  I 
suppose  very  few  preachers  of  his  generation  could 
compare  with  Dr.  Skinner. 

Let  me  now  speak  of  his  more  private  and  personal 
traits.  In  his  character  nature  and  grace  were  united 
in  the  finest  proportions.  The  same  bright  and  lovely 
qualities  which  in  boyhood  and  youth  so  endeared  him 
to  his  elder  brother  and  to  the  wiiole  circle  of  his 
friends,  rendered  him  so  dear  to  us  also,  who  knew  him 
two  or  three-score  years  later. 

"  The  child  was  father  of  the  man." 

Old  age  often  borders  upon  second  childhood ;  in 
his  case  it  bordered  close  upon  first  childhood ;  the 
fresh,  sweet  dawn  of  the  morning  of  his  existence  min- 
gling with  and  beautifying  its  sober  evening.  He  was 
simplicity  itself;  it  was  his  nature.  He  seemed  as  un- 
conscious of  his  own  virtues,  as  if  it  had  never  crossed 
his  mind  that  he  could  possess  them.  A  more  trans- 
parent, unsophisticated,  guileless,  single-eyed,  naive 
human  being  I  never  saw.  He  shrank  from  things" 
false,  artful  or  double-minded,  as  a  delicate  girl  shrinks 
from  what  is  coarse  and  impure.  The  foundations  of 
his  character  were  laid  deep  in  truth  and  uprightness. 
How  unsuspicious,  how  frank  and  trustful  and  mag- 
nanimous he  was !  How  untainted  by  the  vanities 
and  ambitions  of  the  world  !     How  absorbed  in  good 


HIS    ARTLESS    SIMPLICITY.  73 

thoughts  and  high  endeavors !  What  Professor  Tyn- 
dall  says  of  Farraday,  might  be  appHed,  ahiiost  word 
for  word,  to  him  : 

"  The  Hfe  of  his  spirit  and  of  his  intellect  was  so  full, 
that  the  things  which  most  men  strive  after  were  abso- 
lutely indifferent  to  him.  A  favorite  experiment  of  his 
own  was  representative  of  himself  He  loved  to  show 
that  water  in  crystalizing,  excluded  all  foreign  ingredi- 
ents, however  intimately  they  might  be  mixed  with  it. 
Out  of  acids,  alkalies,  or  saline  solutions,  the  crystal  came 
sweet  and  pure.  By  some  such  natural  process  in  the 
formation  of  the  man,  beauty  and  nobleness  coalesced,  to 
the  exclusion  of  ever^'thing  vulgar  and  low.  He  did  not 
learn  his  gentleness  in  the  world,  for  he  withdrew  himself 
from  its  culture,  and  still  the  land  of  England  contained 
no  truer  gentleman  than  he.  Not  half  his  greatness  was 
incorporate  in  his  science,  for  science  could  not  reveal  the 
bravery  and  delicacy  of  his  heart." 

I  have  spoken  of  his  artless  simplicity  and  self- 
unconsciousness.  Let  me  give  an  illustration  of  it. 
He  called,  two  or  three  years  ago,  upon  an  old  friend, 
who  said  tq  him  :  "  Just  as  you  came  in  my  wife  was 
reading  something  which,  I  think,  would  interest  you. 
Shall  she  read  it  again  7'  "  Certainly.  I  shall  be  glad 
to  hear  it."  It  v/as  a  most  eloquent  and  pathetic  ap- 
peal for  wrestling  prayer,  that  God  would  give  the 
Church  more  and  better  ministers.  He  listened  in- 
tently, and  when  she  had  finished,  expressed  in  the 
strongest  terms  his  delight  and  approval.  "  Who  is 
the   author.'^"   he   asked.     "It   is   from   John  Angell 


74  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

James's  'Earnest  Ministry.'"  Whereupon  he  uttered 
a  fervid  eulogy  upon  that  excellent  man,  and  said  the 
passage  was  v/ell  worthy  of  him.  "  But  it  is  not  by 
Mr.  James ;  it  is  quoted."  "  From  whom .?"  "  From 
a  book  entitled,  '  Religion  of  the  Bible.  Select  Dis- 
courses, by  Dr.  Skinner,  of  New  York.'""' 

In  his  relations  with  his  ministerial  brethren,  as  in  all 
the  intercourse  of  life,  he  was  the  impersonation  of  gen- 
erous and  admiring  sympathy.  To  his  inbred  courtesy, 
which  showed  him  as  one  of  nature's  noblemen,  grace 
superadded  a  holy  sweetness  and  benignity  that  told 
of  long  and  closest  intimacy  with  the  King  of  Glory. 
When  in  his  higher  moods,  the  smile  upon  his  face, 
his  friendly  greeting,  and  the  cordial  grasp  of  his  hand, 
wrought  upon  you  with  a  kind  of  magnetic  force ;  for 
hours  afterwards  you  felt  the  happy  influence,  as  if  you 
had  met  an  angel  unawares.  What  shall  I  say  of  his 
freedom  from  envy,  jealousy  and  like  passions,  which 
alas  !  sometimes  steal  even  into  the  hearts  of  ministers 
of  the  Gospel.  He  seemed  to  take  far  more  delight  in 
the  gifts  and  success  of  his  ministerial  brethren  than 
his  own.  Mrs.  Gillman  once  told  me,  that,  during  the 
nearly  twenty  years  which  Coleridge  passed  under  her 
husband's  roof  at  Highgate,  she  never  heard  him  ut- 
ter an  angry  word  against  the  literary  enemies  who 
wrote  malicious,  bitter  things  about  him  ;  and  such 
was  his  happy  faculty  of  not  seeing  the  faults  and  of 

*  I  give  the  passa,s,^c  in  Appendix   E,  not  only  for  tlie  siikc  of  the  anec- 
dote, but  as  eminently  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  Cliurch  in  our  own  day. 


A    MODEL    HEARER.  75 

magnifying^  the  virtues  of  his  friends,  that  anybody  he 
really  loved  was  sure  of  his  unbounded  admiration. 
Something  of  the  same  characteristic  belonged  to  Dr. 
Skinner.  I  know  not  that  he  had  even  a  theolojrical 
enemy ;  I  never  heard  him  speak  of  one ;  but  how  he 
loved  to  praise  and  magnify  his  friends.  If  one  of 
them  wrote  an  article,  or  a  book,  or  preached  a  sermon 
that  pleased  him,  in  what  admiring  words  he  delighted 
to  express  his  pleasure !  There  may  have  been  at 
times  a  touch  of  weakness  in  it ;  but  eminently  great 
and  good  men  are  apt  to  have  just  such  weaknesses. 

HIS    CHARACTER    AS    A    HEARER. 

The  meek,  childlike  docility  with  which  he  received 
the  word  of  life  at  the  lips  of  his  brethren,  was  most 
beautiful.  I  never  had  such  a  hearer,  so  punctual,  at- 
tentive and  considerate,  so  loving  and  devout.  I  never 
saw  another  quite  like  him.  He  drank  in  the  simplest 
Christian  truths,  no  matter  how  feebly  uttered,  almost 
as  if  they  had  been  uttered  by  a  man  inspired.  When, 
twenty  years  ago,  I  became  the  pastor  of  his  old  church 
in  Mercer  street,  I  was  afraid  of  him  among  my  hear- 
ers. There  was  not  a  man,  woman  or  child  in  the 
congregation  of  whom  I  might  not  as  well  have  been 
afraid.  Never  once  during  my  seven  years  in  his  old 
church  in  Mercer  street;  never  once  during  the  ten 
years  of  my  second  pastoral  relation  to  him,  by  word 
or  look  or  action,  did  he  cause  me  to  feel  that  his  sym- 
pathy was  beginning  to  falter,  or  that  he  was  not  edi- 


76  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINXER. ' 

fied  by  my  poor  services.  Nor  did  he  fail  to  manifest 
his  friendly  interest.  Some  persons  appear  to  think 
their  minister  scarcely  more  in  need  of  expressions  of 
their  love  and  good  will,  while  he  is  trying  to  lead  them 
to  heaven,  than  the  locomotive  that  draws  them  over 
the  iron  track  ;  and  they  give  about  the  same  to  the  one 
as  to  the  other.  There  are  others  who  think  that  their 
minister  stands  in  need  of  such  expressions,  in  his  place 
and  degree,  quite  as  truly  as  the  husband  needs  them 
from  the  wife,  or  the  parent  from  the  child  ;  and  they 
bestow  them  vs^ithout  stint.  Dr.  Skinner  belonged  to 
the  latter  class.  He  cherished  a  profound  sense  of  the 
greatness,  difficulties  and  peculiar  trials  of  the  minis- 
ter's work,  as  also  of  the  blessed  privilege  of  hearing 
the  word  of  life  at  his  lips ;  and  he  showed  it  by  giv- 
ing to  his  own  pastor  the  aid  and  comfort  of  his  con- 
stant, affectionate  and  grateful  sympathy.  But,  after 
all,  the  most  cheering  help  and  support  came  from  just 
seeing  him  in  the  sanctuary.  His  listening  posture, 
his  thoughtful,  reverential  aspect,  the  animated  glance, 
the  unconscious  smile  and  nods  of  approval,  when  edi- 
fied by  the  word  preached,  his  closed  eye  and  the  rapt 
expression  of  his  upturned  face,  as  he  stood  and  joined 
in  singing  the  praises  of  his  God  and  Saviour, — these 
made  his  very  presence  in  church  at  once  an  open  tes- 
timony for  Christ,  and  a  spiritual  benediction  alike  to 
his  minister  and  to  the  whole  congregation. 


A    MODEL    DISCIPLE.  1"] 

HIS   CHRISTIAN    CHARACTER. 

As  a  disciple  of  Jesus,  Dr.  Skinner  attained  heights 
seldon-i    trodden  in  our  day.     Grace  had  penetrated 
every  part  and  to  the  lowest  depths  of  his  being.    The 
Christian  life  was  to  him  an  infinite  reality.     I  have 
seen  no  truer  type  of  its  strength  and  beauty.     His 
character  was  fashioned  by  no  mere  human  power ;  it 
was,  surely,  the  transcendent  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
He  himself  seemed  not  to  have  the  faintest  concep- 
tion of  its  unearthly  loveliness.     His  face,  that  shone 
so  bright  to  others,  was  hidden  from  his  own  eye.    By 
the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am  !     That  was  the 
one  thought  which  swallowed  up  and  consecrated  all 
others.     Never  did  he  appear  so  humble  and  tender 
and  contrite  in  heart— so  to  hunger  and  thirst  after 
righteousness,  or  to  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
unto  salvation  with  such  absolute  self-abandonment— 
as  at  the  very  time  when  the  portals  of  glory  everlast- 
ing were  about  to  fly  open  for  his  ransomed  spirit  to 
pass  through.     He  had  made  the  long  circuit  of  the 
Christian  life,  and  was  thus  brought  back  again,  en- 
'  riched  with  the  treasures  of  a  great  experience,  to  the 
unquestioning   tmst   and    childlike    simplicity   of  its 
lowly  beginning.     One  of  his  old  and  most  intimate 
friends  testified,  on  hearing  of  his  death,  "  I  thank  God, 
on  every  remembrance  of  him,  as  the  holiest  man  I 
have  ever  known."    Certainly  we  may  say,  without  any 
question,  he  was  one  of  the  holiest  men  of  his  genera- 
tion.    To  use  his  own  language  respecting  his  bosom- 


78  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

friend  Albert  Barnes,  we  are  "  indebted  to  him,  as  a 
model  minister,  and  preeminently  as  a  model  disciple 
of  Christ."  The  doctrines  which,  for  almost  sixty 
years,  he  had  so  faithfully  taught  and  preached  to  oth- 
ers, for  sixty  years  wrought  mightily  in  his  own  soul 
and  reappeared  at  length,  full-orbed,  in  his  daily  walk 
and  conversation.  His  vigorous  intellect,  his  resolute 
will,  his  ardent  affections,  with  all  the  other  powers  of 
his  strong  and  gifted  nature,  were  fused  and  transfig- 
ured by  their  quickening  influence.  He  was,  in  a 
word,  a  rare  example  of  spiritual  manhood,  sound  to 
the  core,  clear  as  a  crystal,  and  reflecting  in  every  line- 
ament the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God 
shining  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 

But  let  no  one  imagine  that  he  attained  such  heights 
of  holiness  without  most  laborious  and  devout  culture  ; 
or  that  he  was  exempt  from  the  struggles  and  trials  of 
the  Christian  life.  The  grosser  forms  of  temptation 
seemed  hardly  to  touch  him ;  but  his  intellectual  and 
moral  temperament  rendered  him,  I  think,  peculiarly 
sensitive  to  those  of  a  more  refined,  spiritual  sort.  Al- 
though a  man  of  great  faith,  he  had  been  subject  at 
times  to  severe  assaults  of  doubt ;  he  knew  what  is 
meant  by  the  "  fiery  darts  of  the  adversary  ;"  even  to 
the  last  he  had  his  dark,  despondent  moods.  And  this 
feature  of  his  own  experience  qualified  him  to  be  such 
a  tender  and  considerate  counsellor  of  the  young  men 
who  came  to  him  with  their  religious  difficulties  and 
troubles  of  mind.     The  last  Sabbath  but  one  that  he 


A    PASSAGE    FROM    CECIL.  79 

was  ever  at  church,  I  preached  a  sermon  on  Faith  as 
a  gift  of  God.  In  the  course  of  the  sermon  I  quoted 
a  striking  passage  from  Richard  Cecil's  "  Remains,"  in 
which  he  speaks  of  waking  in  pain  at  two  o'clock  in 
the  morning  and  passing  through  a  terrible  conflict  of 
soul.  The  passage  seemed  to  make  a  strong  impres- 
sion upon  Dr.  Skinner.  At  the  close  of  the  service  he 
met  me  on  the  pulpit  stairs,  took  me  by  the  hand, 
thanked  me  for  my  sermon,  and,  with  deep  feeling, 
said,  "  I  fight  my  battles  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing !"  Several  days  afterwards  he  called  and  desired 
me  to  tell  him  where  he  could  find  the  passage  from 
Cecil.  Let  not  those  who  are  afflicted  with  fearful 
and  skeptical  thoughts,  suppose  that  any  strange  thing 
has  befallen  them  ;  some  of  the  greatest  and  holiest 
serv^ants  of  God,  whose  names-  adorn  the  annals  of 
piety,  have  endured  similar  temptations.'^* 

*  The  following  is  the  passage  referred  to.  Cecil  is  speaking  of  Bel- 
sham's  answer  to  Wilberforce's  "  Practical  Christianity  :" 

"  I  read  it  over  while  at  Bath  in  the  autumn  of  179S.  I  waked  in  pain 
about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  I  tried  to  cheer  mj-self  by  an  exercise 
of  faith  on  Jesus  Christ.  I  lifted  up  my  heart  to  Him  as  sympathizing  with 
me  and  engaged  to  support  me.  Many  times  have  I  thus  obtained  quiet 
and  repose;  but  now  I  could  lay  no  hold  on  Him  ;  I  had  given  the  enemy 
an  advantage  over  me  ;  my  habit  had  imbibed  poison  ;  my  nerves  trem- 
bled ;  my  strength  was  gone :  '  Jesus  Christ  sympathize  with  you  and  re- 
lieve you  !  It  is  all  enthusiasm  !  It  is  idolatry  !  Jesus  Christ  has  preached 
His  sermons  and  done  His  duty  and  is  gone  to  heaven  ;  and  there  He  is,  as 
other  good  men  are  !  Address  your  prayers  to  the  Supreme  Being.'  I  ob- 
tain relief  in  such  cases  by  dismissing  from  my  thoughts  all  that  enemies, 
or  friends,  can  say.  I  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  Belsham,  or  Wilberforce. 
I  come  to  Christ  Himself — I  hear  what  He  says — I  turn  over  the  Gospels — 
I  need  His  conversations — I  dwell  especially  on  His  farewell  discourse 
with  His  disciples  in  St.  John's  Gospel.  If  there  is  meaning  in  words,  and 
if  Christ  was  not  a  deceiver,  or  deceived,  the  reality  of  the  Christian  life,  in 
Him  and  from  Him  by  faith,  is  written  there  as  with  a  sunbeam." 


8o  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

HIS    GIFT    IN    PRAYER. 

He  had  an  extraordinary  gift  in  prayer.  I  have 
heard  him  in  the  pulpit  and  on  great  public  occasions, 
when  his  devotional  fervor,  the  energy  and  grasp  of  his 
petitions,  and  the  soaring  of  his  spirit,  were  truly  won- 
derful. But  it  was  in  the  little  company  gathered  at 
the  weekly  evening  service,  or  at  the  table  of  the 
Lord,  that  I  have  been  most  awe-struck  by  the  power 
and  unction  of  his  prayers.  Then  I  have  heard  him, 
as  I  never  heard  another  mortal,  plead  and  wrestle 
with  the  Most  High,  or  pour, out  his  soul  in  penitent 
confession,  praise,  thanksgivings,  and  adoring  wonder, 
and  thus  soar  aloft  "  with  his  singing  robes  about  him," 
until  it  seemed  as  if  he  was  just  going  to  quit  these 
lower  regions  forever ! 

For  the  following  reminiscence  I  am  indebted  to 
my  beloved  brother,  the  Rev.  Dn  Paxton,  of  this  city : 

"  Being  present  last  summer  at  the  administration  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  in  the  church  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thayer, 
in  Newport,  Dr.  Skinner  was  called  upon  to  make  the 
opening  prayer  at  the  Communion  Table.  It  was  one  of 
his  favored  moments,  when,  under  an  '  unction  from  the 
Holy  One,'  his  mind  was  opened  to  a  vivid  apprehension 
of  divine  things,  and  his  emotions  were  so  stinxd  that  he 
poured  forth  a  strain  of  fervent  devotion,  such  as  made 
every  one  feel  '  this  is  none  other  than  the  house  of  God 
and  the  gate  of  heaven.' 

"  He  commenced  with  a  personal  address  to  the  Sa- 
viour: 'O  thou  blessed  Son  of  God,  thou  who  art  the 


A    REMARKAIJLE    PRAYER.  8 1 

Only  Begotten  of  the  Father.'  With  these  words  his 
mind  began  to  fire,  and  his  heart  to  glow,  and  then  fol- 
lowed a  strain  of  adoring  description,  in  which  he  gather- 
ed all  the  scriptural  appellations  and  titles  of  our  Lord 
into  a  resplendent  diadem  with  which  he  crowned  Him 
'  Lord  of  All.'  The  utterance  of  all  this  was  in  a  pecu- 
liarly tender,  but  exultant  tone,  which  wrought  the  audi- 
ence into  complete  sympathy  with  himself,  whilst  he  set 
before  them  such  an  attractive  picture  of  the  personal  ex- 
cellence and  glory  of  our  Lord,  as  made  every  one  bow 
and  adore. 

"  From  this  he  passed  to  the  crucifixion  scene,  upon 
which  he  dwelt  in  a  most  vivid  detail,  and  thence  to  our 
Lord's  exaltation.  It  was  at  this  point  he  began  to  rise 
upon  eagle  pinions.  Absorbed  with  the  fresh  apprehen- 
sion which  he  seemed  just  then  to  receive  of  the  Saviour's 
exaltation  and  preeminence  in  the  heavenly  kingdom,  he 
dwelt  upon  the  thought  with  exultation,  rising  higher  and 
higher,  both  in  his  thought  and  utterance,  until  he  seemed 
to  forget  himself  in  a  transporting  apprehension  of  things 
unseen  and  eternal. 

'*  But  the  touching  and  melting  part  of  the  prayer  was 
the  conclusion,  in  which  he  set  forth  the  benefits  of  the 
Saviour's  death  as  they  are  represented  in  the  Supper ; 
and  then,  blending  the  Sacramental  Supper  with  the  mar- 
riage supper  of  the  Lamb,  he  seemed  to  lift  the  whole 
scene,  table,  audience  and  all,  to  the  Third  Heavens, 
where  he  encircled  it  Avith  glory  and  canopied  it  with 
light;  seated  the  Master  at  the  Table,  and,  gathering  in 
the  Angels  and  the  Spirits  of  the  Just  made  perfect,  he 
made  the  whole  scene  pass  in  such  vivid  array,  that  when 
he  suddenly  concluded,  I  felt  myself  breathing  a  sigh  of 

6 


82  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

regret  that  I  had  so  soon  exchanged  heaven  for  earth. 
The  vivid  impression  of  that  prayer  follows  me  to  the 
present  hour,  and  I  never  after  met  Dr.  Skinner  without 
feeling  a  sacred  awe  of  one  who  had  already  been  in 
heaven,  in  faith  and  prayer,  and  who  was  now  standing 
all  ready,  with  his  spirit  plumed  for  everlasting  flight."'^ 

His  power  in  prayer  was  not  more  remarkable  than 
his  faith  and  delight  in  prayer.  He  not  only  went 
often  and  stayed  long  at  the  throne  of  grace  himself, 
but  he  sought  eagerly  the  intercession  of  his  friends ; 
entering  into  covenant  with  some  of  them  that  they 
should  pray  for  each  other  daily. 

"  I  began  to  love  dear  Dr.  Skinner,"  (writes,  after  his 
death,  an  old  friend  in  Boston,  a  layman  well  known  for 
his  Christian  zeal  and  culture,)  "  when  I  began  to  know 
him — as  a  mere  youth  might  know  and  love  such  a  man — 
when  he  was  my  father's  guest  and  honored  pastor,  for  a 

*  I  find  the  following  allusion  to  Dr.  Skinner  at  the  close  of  Dr.  Bush- 
nell's  striking  article  on  "  Pra3'er  as  related  to  God's  Will,"  in  The  Advance, 
of  June  2g : 

"  I  remember  at  this  point  with  reverence,  how  fresh  and  refreshing  were 
the  prayers  of  our  venerated  friend  and  saintly  brother,  T.  H.  Skinner,  just 
now  taken  from  us.  He  was  never  satisfied  with  the  rotundities  of  mere  self- 
magnetizing  worship.  He  was  sinner  enough  and  poor  enough  to  want 
something  and  be  making  suit  for  it.  And  he  was  dealing  visibly  always 
with  the  will  of  God,  making  his  confessions  not  as  for  tribute,  and  to  pay 
the  revcrentials,  but  as  for  help.  The  scheme  of  his  prayer,  if  I  may  use 
that  term,  was  right,  the  taste  of  it  was  Christian.  The  very  tones  of  it  were 
in  fact  a  prayer  in  themselves,  and  hearing  them  through  an  open  window, 
not  distinguishing  the  words,  or  knowing  the  man,  almost  any  one  would 
say,  '  there  is  a  man  far  in  among  God's  purposes,  not  worshiping  God  as  a 
wall,  but  as  a  Helper  in  the  past  and  a  Saviour  in  what  is  to  come.'  Indeed 
almost  any  one  would  get  a  better  impression  of  Christ  and  deeper,  from 
simply  hearing  one  of  this  dear  father's  prayers,  than  from  hearing  any 
grandest  sermon  of  salvation,  or  hosanna  of  praise." 


WHAT    HE    WAS    TO    A    CHRISTIAN    FRIEND.  S3 

brief  time,  at  Pine  street  church.  The  opportunity  to 
know  and  love  him  more  was  opened  to  me  at  And  over, 
in  1834.  From  that  time  until  now  he  has  been  to  me 
what  no  other  man  has  ever  been,  or  could  be.  When  his 
last  letter  came — only  a  short  week  since— it  prompted 
the  thought  of  what  it  would  be  to  be  left  in  the  world 
without  his  prayers.  You  may  perhaps  know,  that,  eleven 
years  ago  last  August,  he  kindly  asked  me  to  enter  into  a 
covenant  of  mutual  daily  remembrance  in  prayer.  From 
that  day  I  have  never  failed  to  remember  him  at  least 
twice  daily  ;  and  in  this  last  letter  he  speaks  of  his  fulfill- 
ment of  his  part  of  the  covenant."-"' 

At  the  time  of  his  conversion  he  was  much  aided 

*  The  same  friend  writes  a  few  days  later: 

"The  last  time  I  saw  him,  he  repeated  to  me  the  beautiful  and  most  Chris- 
tian hymn  beginning, 

'  My  Jesus,  as  thou  wilt,' 

as  expressive  of  his  constant  feeling.  I  have  never  seen,  doubtless  I  never 
shall  see,  (to  know  him  as  being  such,)  so  holy  a  man.  I  can  never  express 
my  debt  of  gratitude  to  Him  who  gave  me  this  friend  of  more  than  thirty- 
five  years.  Nor  do  I  think  I  ever  heard  any  preaching  that  had  in  it  so 
much  for  me.  This  experience  with  him  confirms  me  in  the  long-indulged 
conviction,  that  a  friend  can  give  us  only  what  he  is— not  more.  I  once 
heard  a  clergyman  asked,  if  he  ever  preached  or  prayed  beyond  his  own 
experience  ?  His  reply  was,  '  If  I  did  not,  you  would  have  very  poor  preach- 
ing." I  could  not  forbear  saying,  If  you  do  preach  beyond  your  own  expe- 
rience—and I  would  have  added /ra/,  as  well,  but  that  I  think  he  waived 
that— we  cannot  fail  to  have  poor  preaching.  Dr.  Skinner  certainly  preach- 
ed according  to  his  aim  and  his  unwearied  endeavor,  to  be  filled  with  all 
the  fullness  of  the  blessed  God.  I  am  sure  his  actual  experience  was 
much  higher,  broader,  deeper,  than  his  realized  experience.  I  wish— with- 
out prejudice  to  the  claims  of  any  other— that  his  mantle  might  fall  on  me. 
Certainly  he  was  clothed  with  the  beauty  of  holiness.  His  sermons  on 
Spiritual  Religion,  which  have  been  more  frequently  appropriated  without 
acknowledgment  than  probably  any  modern  sermons,  ought  to*  be  re-print- 
ed. There  is  nothing  better  in  the  language.  And  a  host  of  sermons  of 
his— especially  those  on  the  Beatitudes,  ought  to  be  added- not  to  that  vol- 
ume, but  in  other  volumes,  giving  the  religious  public  the  advantage  of  his 
experience." 


84  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

by  the  counsels  of  a  pious  negi'o.  The  name  of  this 
neofro  was  Eden.  He  was  a  slave.  He  had  been 
offered  his  freedom,  but  refused  to  accept  it.  He  died 
in  1859.  Dr.  Skinner's  tribute  to  this  "  sainted  friend," 
as  he  called  Eden,  is  touchingly  beautiful.  After  de- 
scribing his  remarkable  conversion  and  his  eminently 
pious  life,  he  proceeds  thus  : 

"  I  was  happy  in  my  friendship  with  this  humble  man. 
It  began  early  and  was  never  suspended.  At  the  time  of 
his  conv^ersion  he  attended  me  as  a  servant ;  after  it,  I 
was  accustomed  to  hear  his  voice  in  solitary  prayer  ;  and 
he  was  almost  the  only  person  to  whom  I  could  express 
my  new  feelings,  when  religion  became  my  own  supreme 
interest.  Distance  afterwards  separated  us,  but  did  not 
diminish  our  friendship.  We  took  pains  to  cherish  and 
confirm  it.  By  agreement,  wc  daily  (twice  a  day  on  the 
part  of  one  of  us,  and,  I  doubt  not,  of  the  other,  also,  at 
least  as  often)  remembered  each  other  particularly  in 
prayer.  Twice  he  traveled*  several  hundred  miles  by  sea 
to  visit  me,  and  the  anticipated  pleasure  of  seeing  him 
was  always  among  the  motives  of  my  annual  journeys  to 
the  South.  We  had  short  religious  interviews  when  we 
met.  Such  were  some  of  the  means  by  which  we  kept 
our  friendship  advancing.  Very  pleasant  to  me,  now  that 
he  is  gone,  is  the  reminiscence  of  them.  Rather  to  be 
chosen  than  great  riches,  or  great  distinction  in  the  world, 
was  the  interest  1  had  in  my  friend  Eden's  prayers,  of  low 
estate  though  he  was.  The  thousands  of  prayers,  which 
I  am  sure  he  offered  for  me,  with  no  feigned  lips  or  un- 
feeling heart — how  had  I  despised  my  mercies  if  his  hum- 


NOT    LONG    FOR    EARTH.  85 

ble  condition  or  aught  else  had  made  mc  lightly  esteem 
these  precioiis  indications  of  his  holy  love."* 


CONCLUSION. 

But  it  is  time  to  close ;  and  yet  I  am  loath  to  do 
so.  To  adopt  his  own  words,  in  his  delightful  dis- 
course on  the  death  of  his  dear  friend,  Francis  Markoe : 
"  It  gives  a  taste  of  heaven  to  hold  communion  with 
the  idea  of  this  most  peculiar,  Christ-like  character.  I 
am  unwilling  to  let  it  be  long  out  of  my  thought ;  it 
has  not  been  long  away  from  it,  by  day  or  night.  J 
have  found  it  very  refreshing  and  sweet  to  mc,  to  make 
this  discourse  upon  it.  My  heart  exults  with  great 
joy,  in  the  hope  of  being  united  to  this  blest  saint 
in  the  everlasting  relations  and  employments  of 
heaven." 

For  months  before  his  departure,  his  friends  began 
to  feel  that  he  was  not  long  to  remain  on  earth  ;  there 
was  a  light  in  his  face — a  something  in  his  whole  tone 
and  spirit — which  told  them  so.  He  felt  it  himself, 
though,  of  course,  for  a  very  different  reason.  He  had 
it  in  mind,  again  and  again,  to  communicate  to  one  of 
the  directors  of  the  Seminary  his  purpose  to  resign  this 
spring ;  but  did  not  "  because  (as  he  said  to  his  family) 
it  was  some  time  till  spring  and  he  might  still  die  at 

*  Soon  after  Eden's  death,  Dr,  Skinner  went  South  and  preached  a  me- 
morial discourse  upqn  him  to  an  overflowing  house,  composed  largely  of 
slaves.  His  text  was  Rev.  i.  6,  "Who  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto 
God."     Subject — "The  honor  which  Christianitj'  puts  upon  man." 

The  tribute  to  Eden  appeared  in  the  Neio  York  Obsci~vcr  of  July  23,  1859. 


86  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

his  post."     He  wrote  many  letters  to  old  friends  ;  as  if 
to  bid  them  good-bye. 

HIS    VIEWS    OF    LIFE    AT    FOUR-SCORE. 

His  State  of  mind  and  his  views  of  life  at  four-score 
will  appear  from  two  of  these  letters.  The  first  was 
addressed  to  the  Rev.  E.  H.  Cumpston,  of  Virginia : 

"  My  Dear  Brother, — I  thank  you  for  sending  me 
your  newspaper  article  ;  and  the  affectionate  letter  which 
contained  it I  sent  you  by  mail  a  pamphlet  con- 
taining a  '  Seminary  Address'  of  mine,  and  a  small  volume 
of  *  Discussions  in  Theology,'  which  I  published  about  two 
3-ears  ago.  The  *  Discussions'  show  with  precision  the 
essentials  of  my  religious  creed  ;  and  the  '  Address'  gives 
my.  view  of  the  great  business  of  the  ministry,  and  the 
condition  of  success  in  it.  I  feel  that  in  trying  to  teach 
others,  I,  at  best,  do  little  more  than  try  to  perform  the 
whetstone's  office,  {fungar  vice  cot  is;)  'sharpen  without 
being  myself  sharp.'  Too  often,  I  fear,  I  have  to  tremble 
at  the  Lord's  denunciation  of  the  lawyers,  who  laid  heavy 
burdens  on  men's  shoulders,  which  they  themselves  would 
not  touch  with  one  of  their  fingers.  Pray  for  me,  that  I 
may  not  be  judged  out  of  my  own  mouth.  You  say,  3'ou 
have  seen  of  late  no  mention  of  my  name  in  the  papers. 
What  right  has  it  to  be  there  ?  What  have  I  done,  what 
have  I  been,  that  I  should  be  spoken  of  in  public  ?  Look- 
ing at  my  life,  as  I  am  in  the  habit  of  doing  now,  under 
the  instructions  of  death  and  the  judgment,  I  feel  that,  a 
parte  Dei,  silence  in  regard  to  me  is  infinitely  more  than 
my  desert !  Not  a  negative  treatment,  not  bare  neglect, 
is  the  due  measure  of  my  recompense  from  God.     More- 


LETTER  TO  AN  OLD  FRIEND.  87 

over,  I  have  had  my  day.  It  is  but  in  the  order  of  nature 
that  I  should  decrease,  while  others  are  increasing.  Bless- 
ed be  God,  it  might  have  been  worse  with  me  than  it  has 
been  !  Had  He  left  me  to  m3-self,  what  and  where  would 
I  have  been  to-day  ! 

"  I  have  not  recalled  the  prayer  to  which  you  refer :  I 
desire  to  depart  in  mcdiis  rebus ;  with  the  harness  on,  as 
you  say.*  My  health  is  very  good  ;  in  my  eightieth  3'car, 
m}'  locomotive  faculties  are  almost  as  vigorous  as  they 
were  when  I  was  young.  I  am  punctual  at  my  Seminary 
labors.  Except  preaching  and  writing,  I  do  as  much 
work  as  I  have  been  accustomed  to  do.  Writing  has  be- 
come more  difficult,  not  from  a  failure  of  my  intellectual 
powers,  but  from  an  enlarged  comprehension  of  the  topics 
which  I  treat.  In  that  I  am  still  at  my  work,  and  I  hope 
my  prayer  will  be  answered.  Let  me  be  harnessed  for 
labor !  ''  Affectionately  yours, 

"T.  H.  Skinner." 

The  other  letter  was  addressed  to  an  old  friend  and 
ministerial  associate,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Helfenstein,  of  Ger- 
mantown,  Pennsylvania. 

"  New  York,  January  9,  iSyr, 

160  West  Twenty-third  street. 

"  Reverend  and  Dear  Brother, — A  few  days  since 
I  .was  informed  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ganse,  of  this  city,  that 
in  your"  retirement  from  pastoral  work  you  are  not  in 
good  health ;  and  my  regard  for  you  as,  for  nearly  half  a 

*  "The  prayer  referred  to,  and  which  he  could  not  recall,  was  one  which 
our  beloved  brother  Dr.  Stiles  heard  him  offer  some  ten  years  ago,  and 
which  he  told  me  determined  him,  also,  to  die  with  his  harness  on,  and 
which  led  him  to  undertake  the  arduous  work  to  which  his  old  age  is  so 
successfully  devoted."— E.  H.  C. 


88  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

century,  a  faithful  minister  and  disciple  of  our  Divine 
Master  and  Saviour,  and  a  reminiscence  of  you  as  accom- 
panying me  to  a  death-bed  scene  not  far  from  my  dwell- 
ing, when  I  resided  on  Race  street ;  and  also  your  kind- 
ness in  sending  me  a  volume  of  your  sermons,  incline  me, 
as  I  cannot  '  see  you  and  speak  face  to  face,'  *  with  ink  and 
pen  to  write  unto  3-ou.' 

"  You  and  I  are  very  near  the  end  of  our  course.  I  am, 
I  think,  a  little  in  advance  of  you — near,  very  near,  the 
brink  of  the  river ;  nay,  I  often  say  to  my  friends,  I  have 
one  foot  in  the  river ;  and  little  is  left  to  me  but  to  look 
about  ijie  and  cross  it !  How  I  should  like  to  be  Avith 
you  and  talk  with  you  about  our  life-experiences,  and  our 
prospects  as  to  the  eternal  future,  on  which  we  shall  so 
soon  enter!  Concerning  one  thing  I  am  sure  we  should 
find  ourselves  of  the  same  mind,  namely,  that  none  among 
all  mankind  have  been  more  favored  than  ourselves  as  to 
//le  life-work  which  was  assigned  us  by  the  singular  grace 
of  God.  Could  any  angel  have  coveted  a  greater  calling 
than  that  in  which  we  have  spent  pur  days  ?  Preaching 
to  poor,  perishing  men  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ ! 
Blessed  be  God  that  this — not  heaping  up  treasures  on 
earth,  not  making  ourselves  a  name  among  scholars,  and 
the  worldly  wise,  and  great  politicians,  and  place-seekers 
— has  been  our  occupation.  I  am  constantly  lamenting 
over  my  shortcomings,  my  little  profiting  by  all  my  ad- 
vantages and  opportunities  of  serving  the  Lord, -and  my 
countless  infirmities  and  sins ;  and  I  sometimes  wish,  in 
view  of  my  mistakes  and  failures,  that  I  could  begin  my 
course  again ;  but  notwithstanding  all  my  drawbacks,  I 
cannot  but  call  on  my  soul  and  all  that  is  within  me  to 
bless  the  Lord  that  I  have  been,  here  on  earth,  not  a 


THE    CLOSING    HOUR-  89 

banker,  or  lawyer,  or  statesman,  or  prince,  out  a  poor 
preacher  of  the  everlasting  Gospel.  And  I  am  sure  that 
in  this  you  are  like  me ;  and  how  should  we  rejoice  to- 
gether in  the  wonderful  grace  of  God  toward  us  in  this 
respect,  if  we  could  talk  with  each  other  of  the  ministry 
we  have  almost  completed  ! 

"  You,  doubtless-,  know  that  I  was  at  the  funeral  of 
Albert  Barnes.  Brother,  I  was  never  present  at  such 
obsequies.  I  never  took  part  in  carrying  a  man  like 
brother  Barnes  to  his  burial.  He  has  not  left  his  equal 
among  us.  He  is  the  object  of  my  profound  admiration. 
What  a  model  of  industry,  of  meekness,  of  patience,  of 
Christian  simplicity  and  dignity  was  this  very  extraordi- 
nar}-  man !  Well,  brother,  we  hope  soon  to  see  him 
again ;  and  also  to  see  brother  Patterson,  and  others 
whom  we  have  loved  and  admired  as  ministers  of  Christ ; 
and  to  see  Whitefield,  and  Edwards,  and  Baxter,  and 
Howe ;  and  to  see  Paul,  and  John,  and  Peter,  and  all  the 
holy  apostles  and  martyrs  ;  and  oh  !  infinitely  more  than 
all,  to  see,  face  to  face,  our  blessed  and  adorable  Lord 
and  Saviour  Himself! 

"  Farewell !     In  the  bonds  of  the  everlasting  covenant, 

"Yours,     '  Thomas  H.  Skinner." 


He  continued  to  perform  his  usual  duties  in  the 
Seminary  until  the  24th  of  Januar)^  when  he  was  con- 
fined to  his  house  by  a  severe  cold.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, until  Tuesday  the  31st,  that  very  serious  alarm 
was  felt  by  his  friends ;  he  himself  felt  no  alarm  what- 
ever;  but   on  Wednesday  forenoon,   February   ist,  a 


90  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKIXXER. 

little  before   eleven    o'clock,  the  Son    of   Man  came 
quickly  and  took  him  home  to  Himself* 

It  is  wonderful  to  think  what  astonishment  and  joy 
must  have  been  his,  on  finding  himself  so  suddenly  in 
the  presence  of  his  Saviour.  Truly,  the  day  of  such  a 
man's  death  is  the  natal  day  of  eternity.  But  un- 
speakable as  was  the  gain  to  him,  how  heavy  the  loss 
to  us !  Never  again  shall  we  here  look  upon  his 
benignant,  apostolic  face,  or  meet  him  walking,  with 
quick,  nervous  step,  these  earthly  streets ;  never  again 
will  he  sit  where  our  eyes  so  delighted  to  see  him  sit- 
ting, in  the  chapel,  or  in  the  sanctuary,  which  he 
loved  ;  no  more  will  he  join  his  voice  Vv'ith  ours  in 
singing,  "  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee  !  Nearer  to  Thee," 
"  Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul,"  "  Rock  of  ages,  cleft  for 
me,"  "  My  Jesus,  as  thou  wilt."  We  have  felt  for  the 
last  time  that  cordial  grasp  of  his  hand,  which  we  used 
to  wait  for  as  for  a  closing  benediction ;  henceforth 
his  Christian  brethren  and  we  all  shall  miss  his  high, 
spiritual  converse.  Precious  privileges  were  these,  but 
they  are  gone.  That  dear,  benignant  face  is  gazing  in 
rapture  upon  the  Beatific  Vision ;  he  who  but  yester- 
day was  sitting  here  with  us,  is  seated  now  with  the 
jisen  Son  of  God,  in  His  throne ;  that  voice  is  join- 
ins:  in  the  eternal  new  sonc: ;  that  lovinsr  hand  has 
touched  adoringly  the  Hand  once  nailed,  for  his  and 
our  salvation,  to  the  bitter  cross ;  our  old  friend  has 

*  A  few  details  respecting  his  last  hours,  as  also  some  account  of  the  fu- 
neral, will  be  found  in  Appendix  A. 


PASSING    AWAY  !  9 1 

walked  and  will  walk  for  aye  the  golden  streets  of  the 
city  of  Immanuel. 

"Oh  what  sweet  company 
He  there  doth  hear  and  see  ! 
What  harmony  doth  there  abound  !  , 

While  souls  unnumbered  sing 

The  praise  of  Zion's  King, 
Nor  one  dissenting  voice  is  found!" 

Thanks  be  to  God,  who  early  called  him  to  be  a 
saint,  crowned  his  long  life  with  such  sacred  beauty, 
enabled  him  to  bring  forth  so  much  fruit,  and  then 
gave  him  the  victory,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

How  fast  the  aged  ministers,  who  wxre  his  contem- 
poraries and  fellow-laborers  in  the  Gospel,  are  passing 
away !  Only  one  here  and  there  is  'any  longer  to  be 
seen  among  us.  The  great  majority  are  at  rest  in  God. 
And  the  few,  that   remain,  must    often   feel  like  ex- 


claiming 


"  They  are  all  gone  into  the  world  of  light, 
And  I  alone  sit  lingering  here  '" 


But  for  his  aged  brethren,  w^ho  still  survive,  and  for 
us  all,  a  precious  solace  is  left : 

"Their  very  memory  is  fair  and  bright, 
And  my  sad  thoughts  doth  clear. 

"  It  glows  and  glitters  in  my  cloudy  breast, 
Like  stars  upon  some  gloomy  grove. 
Or  those  faint  beams  in  which  the  hill  is  drest, 
After  the  sun's  remove. 

I  see  them  walking  in  an  air  of  glory, 
Whose  light  doth  trample  on  my  days; 
My  days,  which  arc  at  best  both  dull  and  hoary. 
Mere  glimmering  and  decays. 


92  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

O  holy  hope  !  and  high  humility  ! 

High  as  the  heavens  above  ! 

These  are  your  walks,  and  3-0  have  show'd  them  me, 

To  kindle  my  cold  love."  • 


He  has  gone  to  be  with  his  Lord ;  but  we  have  not 
lost  him.  There  is  no  parting  friends  in  Christ.  He 
is  nearer  than  ever  now.  "  Heaven  is  not  long  to  wait, 
nor  far  to  go."  Saints  on  earth  and  saints  in  glory,  if 
not  on  one  floor,  are  yet  under  one  roof  and  form 
one  family.  Death  has  taken  our  venerated  friend  and 
brother  from  our  sight,  but  not  from  our  hearts.  We 
never  loved  him  as  we  love  him  now ;  never  was  his 
power  over  us  greater ;  never  his  image  so  fair  and 
Christ-like.  His  immense  faith  w^ill  still  quicken  ours ; 
his  godly  virtues  will  still  impregnate  the  air  we 
breathe ;  the  prayers  he  used  to  offer  are  yet  potent 
for  our  advantage  ;  we  shall  often  be  thinking  of  him, 
and  whenever  we  think  of  him,  it  will  be  a  new  stimu- 
lus to  holy  living ;  earth  will  always  be  pleasanter  be- 
cause he  has  been  here,  and  heaven  more  real  and  at- 
tractive because  he  has  gone  there.  Wherefore,  we 
praise  and  bless  thee,  O  God,  for  his  most  useful  life, 
for  his  good  example,  for  his  precious  love  and  fellow- 
ship ;  we  praise  and  bless  Thee,  also,  that  in  a  ripe  old 
age,  with  faculties  unbroken,  standing  firmly  at  his 
post,  radiant  in  spiritual  beauty,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  of  faith.  Thou  hast  taken  him  home  to  Thyself- 
Prepare  us,  we  beseech  Thee,  when  our  appointed 
hour  shall  strike,  to  follow  him  into  the  unseen  world. 


CONCLUSION.  93 

and  there  have  our  rest  and  portion  with  him  in  the 
life  everlasting ! 

Now  UNTO  Him  that  is  able  to  do  exceed- 
ing ABUNDANTLY  ABOVE  ALL  THAT  WE  ASK  OR 
THINK,    ACCORDING     TO     THE     POWER     THAT    WORKETH 

IN  US,  UNTO  Him  be  glory  in  the  church  by 
Christ  Jesus,  throughout  all  ages,  world  with- 
out end.    Amen. 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX. 


A, PAGE    90. 


The  funeral  of  Dr.  Skinner  took  place  on  Saturda}^ 
February  4th,  at  the  Church  of  the  Covenant.  It  was  a 
most  impressive  scene,  and  will  never  be  forgotten  by 
those  who  witnessed  it.  The  services  in  the  church  were 
conducted  b}^  the  Rev.  Dr.  Prentiss,  the  Pastor ;  Prof 
Henry  B.  Smith,  of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  and 
Rev.  William  Adams,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Madison  square 
Presbyterian  church  ;  the  singing  was  by  a  choir  of  stu- 
dents. After  reading  a  portion  of  the  17th  chapter  of 
the  Gospel  of  John,  Dr.  Prentiss  gave  a  sketch  of  the  life 
and  character  of  the  deceased,  with  some  account  of  his 
last  hours.  The  following  passages  are  taken  from  this 
address  : 

"  Whether  regarded  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel,  as  a 
theologian,  or  as  a  disciple  of  Jesus,  he  was  ahke  admira- 
ble and  pre-eminent.  For  almost  three-scoi-e  years  he 
has  been  identified  with  the  religious  interests  of  the 
country  —  especially  with  the  history  and  piety  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  His  name  has  long  been  a  house- 
hold word  among  Christian  people  all  over  the  land  ;  and 
henceforth  it  will  be  embalmed  with  those  of  Miller  and 
Richards  and  Alexander  and  Beechcr  and  Albert  Barnes, 
and  others  like  them.  He  came  upon  the  stage  at  a  mo- 
ment when  the  theological  and  ecclesiastical  atmosphere 
7  (97) 


98  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

foreboded  strife  and  trouble  ;  and,  when  the  storm  burst, 
nobod}^  took  a  manlier  part,  nobody  was  more  faithful  to 
his  honest  convictions,  avowed  them  with  greater  bold- 
ness, or  maintained  them  with  more  ability,  than  he.  But 
I  shall  not  dwell  upon  these  things  now.  Dr.  Skinner  re- 
garded it  as  a  special  favor  of  Providence,  and  one  of  his 
greatest  felicities  on  earth,  that  he  was  permitted,  during 
the  closing  hours  of  life,  to  breathe  an  atmosphere  no  lon- 
ger embittered  either  by  theological  or  ecclesiastical  ani- 
mosity and  discord.  One  of  the  last  things  I  saw  him  do 
was  to  grasp  the  hand  of  a  friend,  and  exclaim  :  '  Yes, 
brother,  I  believe  with  you,  that  the  oduini  tJicologicuvi  is 
dying  out !'  From  the  first,  he  earnestly  desired  and 
prayed  for  the  Reunion  of  the  Pi"esbyterian  Church,  both 
for  its  own  sake,  and  as  the  harbinger  of  a  larger  and  still 
more  blessed  union  of  all  Christ's  disciples  ;  and  when  the 
momentous  act  w\as  at  length  consummated,  his  joy  was 
unbounded.  Some  present  will  remember  how  he  poured 
out  that  joy  in  this  very  place,  as  at  the  request  of  the 
Moderator,  although  himself  not  a  mem.ber  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembl}',  he  offered  up  thanks  to  Almighty  God 
immediately  after  the  unanimous  vote  in  favor  of  Re- 
union. His  whole  soul  was  filled  with  the  spirit  of  our 
Lord's  high-priestly  prayer,  that  His  followers  might  all 
be  one  ;  as  Thou,  Father,  art  in  vie,  and  I  in  Thee,  that  they 
also  may  be  one  in  us ;  that  the  zvorld  may  believe  that  Thou 
hast  sent  me.  The  17th  chapter  of  the  Gospel  of  John 
seemed,  indeed,  to  have  become  part  of  his  spiritual  hfe- 
blood.  To  hear  him  talk  and  pray  about  union  with 
Christ,  and  the  union  of  Christ's  people  in  Him,  was  al- 
most like  reading,  on  one's  knees,  that  wonderful  chapter. 
"  Of  Dr.  Skinner's  career  and  character  as  preacher 
and  theologian,  my  brethren,  who  follow  me,  will  speak. 
In  the  earlier  and  palmy  days  of  his  ministry,  his  power 
in  the  pulpit  must  have  been  extraordinar3^  He  was  lit- 
tle more  than  a  stripling  when  he  began  to  declare  the 
way  of  salvation  ;  but  even  then  some  of  the  greatest 


APPENDIX.  99 

preachers  and  divines  of  the  age  listened  to  him  with 
delight,  and  bore  witness  to  his  remarkable  gifts.  It  is 
related,  that  on  one  occasion,  he  was  to  preach  at  Ger- 
mantown  ;  and,  upon  entering  the  pulpit,  saw  among  his 
hearers,  that  prince  of  sacred  orators,  the  renowned  Dr. 
John  M.  Mason,  who  happened  to  be  sojourning  in  the 
place.  At  first,  he  was  filled  with  dismay  ;  but  by  a 
special  effort  of  mind,  threw  himself  upon  the  help  of 
his  Master,  and  was  enabled  to  proceed  in  his  discourse 
with  entire  freedom.  When  the  service  was  over.  Dr. 
JNIason  came  forward,  seized  him  by  the  hand,  and  with 
tears  in  his  eyes,  said  :  '  God  bless  you  !  And  He  will  bless 
you  !'  The  latter  half  of  his  course  in  Philadelphia,  in 
the  Arch  street  church.  Dr.  Skinner  called  "  the  seed- 
time of  his  ministry  ;"  but  every  part  of  his  ministry,  in 
Philadelphia,  in  New  England,  and  in  New  York,  was  a 
seed-time,  out  of  which  most  precious  harvests  of  souls 
have  been  gathered. 

"  Of  his  personal  and  Christian  character  it  is  difficult 
to  speak  in  measured  terms.  He  was  a  man  of  the  rarest 
courtesy,  grace  and  sweetness  of  manners.  He  had  a 
most  winning  smile,  and  when  in  his  high  and  radiant 
moods,  the  charm  of  his  presence  and  conversation  was 
something  indescribable.  At  such  times  his  face  was  as 
it  had  been  the  face  of  an  angel.  Only  two  weeks  ago 
to-night,  a  large  number  of  his  brethren  saw  him  in  such 
a  mood  at  his  own  house  ;  and  never  will  the  hallowed 
scene,  or«  the  sweet  hymn,  '  My  Jesus,  as  Thou  wilt,' 
which  he  repeated  to  them  at  its  close,  be  effaced  from 
their  memory.- 

*  "  Now  that  he  is  taken,  we  can  see  how  he  has  been  long  preparing  for 
the  change.  Often  as  we  walked  home  together  from  our  Saturday  night 
meetings,  we  have  asked  how  it  seemed  to  be  approaching  the  end  of  life, 
and  found  that  his  mind  was  in  perfect  peace.  Only  a  few  days  before  his 
death,  the  Chi  Alpha,  an  association  of  the  ministers  of  this  city,  which  he 
greatly  loved,  met  at  his  house.  At  the  close,  as  we  were  about  to  unite  in 
prayer,  he  wisherd  that  we  might  join  him  in  singing  a  particular  hymn, 
and  as  he  could  not  lay  his  hand  upon  the  book,  he  repeated  the  three 


lOO  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

"  I  never  knew  a  human  being-  of  whom  it  could  be  said 
with  more  truth  :  Behold  an  Israelite  indeed,  in  zuhom  there 
is  no  guile  /  His  artless  simplicity  was  as  uncommon  as 
the  vigor  of  his  intellect,  the  beauty  of  his  affections  and 
the  sanctity  of  his  hfe.  What  he  said  of  his  venerated 
and  faithful  friend,  Dr.  James  P.  Wilson,  applied,  word 
for  word,  to  himself:  'What  a  charm  is  there  in  gifts, 
when  simplicity  exercises  them  ;  and  how  venerable  is 
simplicity  when  it  invests  illustrious  gifts  !  Never  have 
we  seen  the  person  in  whom  simplicity  dwelt  in  a  higher 
degree.  Whether  in  his  public  ministrations,  or  in  pri- 
vate life,  this  eminent  man  was  unassuming  as  a  little 
child,  claiming  no  distinctions  above  the  plainest  indi- 

verses.     We  see  him  now,  standing  before  the  fire-place,  with  his  back  to 
the  fire,  with  his  hands  crossed,  and  repeating  fervently  these  words  : 

"  '  My  Jesus,  as  Thou  wilt  ! 

0  may  Thy  will  be  mine  ; 
Into  Thy  hand  of  love, 

1  would  my  all  resign  ; 
Through  sorrow  or  through  joy, 
Conduct  me  as  Thine  own, 
And  help  me  still  to  say, 

My  Lord,  Thy  will  be  done. 

"  '  My  Jesus,  as  Thou  wilt  ! 

Though  seen  through  many  a  tear, 

Let  not  my  star  of  hope 

Grow  dim,  or  disappear  ; 

Since  Thou  on  earth  hast  wept, 

And  sorrowed  oft  alone, 

If  I  must  weep  with  Thee, 

My  Lord,  Thy  will  be  done  ! 

"  '  My  Jesus,  as  thou  wilt  ! 
All  shall  be  well  for  me  ; 
Each  changing  future  scene, 
I  gladly  trust  with  Thee  ; 
Straight  to  my  home  above 
I  travel  calmly  on, 
And  sing,  in  life,  or  death. 
My  Lord,  Thy  will  be  done  !'  " 

—  I'/ic  Evangelist,  February  9th. 


APPENDIX.  lOI 

vidua!,  and  appearing-  to  be  conscious  of  no  superiority 
to  him  in  any  kind  of  excellence.'  To  this  lovely  trait 
was  joined  a  humility  equally  remarkable.  One  of  the 
church  fathers,  on  beino[  asked  what  is  the  first  thing-  in 
religion,  replied.  Humility — and  what  the  second,  replied, 
Humility — and  what  the  third,  replied  still.  Humility.  It 
was  so  in  an  eminent  degree  with  our  departed  friend. 
He  loved  to  lie  low — ^  injinitclylow,'  as  his  favorite.  Presi- 
dent Edwards,  expresses  it,  before  God.  He  was  very 
modest  and  humble  in  reference  to  his  intellectual  and 
theological  gifts  and  attainments  ;  while  the  sense  of  his 
own  unworthiness,  littleness,  and  imperfections  as  a  min- 
ister and  disciple  of  Jesus,  was  overpowering,  and  would 
have  been  intolerable,  had  it  not  been  relieved  and  swal- 
lowed up  by  impassioned  love  to  his  Saviour,  and  an  im- 
mense faith  in  Him.  The  depth  and  intensity  of  both  senti- 
ments were  strikingly  illustrated  by  an  incident,  which 
occuri'ed  only  a  few  days  before  his  last  illness.  He 
called  at  my  house  for  the  purpose  of  spiritual  conference 
with  a  Christian  friend.  Before  leaving,  he  said  :  *  I  have 
brought  something  which  I  want  to  read  to  you,'  intimat- 
ing that  it  expressed  exactly  his  own  feeling.  He  then 
read,  with  infinite  animation  and  emphasis,  and  with  holy 
unction  beaming  in  his  e3'e  and  face,  a  letter  of  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Romaine,  author  "  Life, Walk  and  Triumph  of  Faith." 
The  letter  is  so  striking,  and  throws  such  light  upon  the 
state  of  his  own  soul,  that  I  give  a  large  portion  of  it : 

"  '  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  hath  blessed  you  with  so  many  blessings  al- 
ready, and  who,  having  begun,  will  not  cease  to  bless  you 
in  life  and  death,  and  forever  more  !  Your  letter  of  May 
2d  puts  me- in  mind  of  His  goodness,  as  I  wish  all  things 
may.  It  rejoices  my  ver}^  heart  to  see  Him  displaying 
the  glories  of  His  grace  far  and  wide.  From  London 
through  Europe,  from  Europe  to  America,  yea,  as  far  as 
the  sun  travels,  His  fame  is  spread.  And  does  He  not 
deserve  it  ?     Oh,  my  friend,  what  have  we  to  tell  of  but 


I02  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER, 

the  loving-kindness  of  Jesus  ;  and  what  to  praise  but  His 
wonders  in  saving  such  as  we  are,  and  in  saving  so  many 
of  us  ?  Blessings  forever  on  the  Lamb  !  May  we  glorify 
Him  by  resting  on  Him  for  righteousness  and  strength, 
and  by  living  wholly  upon  Him  for  grace  and  glory. 
Then  all  goes  well,  when 

"  '  On  all  besides  his  precious  blood, 
On  all  besides  the  Son  of  God, 
We  trample  boldl3^  and  disclaim 
All  other  saviours  but  the  Lamb. 

"  '  As  to  what  you  write  about,  I  know  not  what  to  say. 
It  is  in  the  best  hands.  He  knows  w^hat  to  do.  Let  Him 
alone.  Remember  He  is  the  head  of  the  Church,  and  He 
will  look  after  His  own  matters,  and  well,  too.  At  pres- 
ent, I  see  not  my  way  clearly  from  London.  Here  my 
Master  fixes  me,  and  here  I  must  stay  till  He  calls  me  to 
some  other  place.  When  He  would  have  me  to  move, 
He  will  let  me  know  His  will.  Besides,  what  am  I  ? 
What  does  it  signify  where  I  am  ?  A  poor,  dumb  dog, 
the  vilest,  the  basest  of  all  the  servants  of  my  Lord.  If 
you  could  see  what  is  passing  for  any  one  hour  in  my 
heart,  you  would  not  think  anything  of  me  ;  you  would 
only  admire  and  extol  the  riches  of  Jesus'  love.  Wonder- 
ful it  is  that  He  should  send  such  an  one  to  preach  His 
gospel,  and  bless  it,  to  many,  many  souls  (while  every 
sermon  covers  me  with  shame  and  confusion) — oh,  this  is 
wonderful,  wonderful,  eternally  to  be  admired,  grace  ! 
What  cannot  He  do  ?  who  can  form  a  preacher  out  of 
such  a  dry,  rotten  stick,  fit  for  nothing  but  the  fire  of 
hell  ?  Glory,  glory  be  to  Him  alone,  and  forever  and 
forever  more.  All  the  tongues  in  heaven  and  in  earth, 
men  and  angels,  throughout  eternity,  cannot  praise  Him 
enough  for  what  He  has  already  done  for  my  soul,  and, 
therefore,  I  am  content  to  be  a  poor,  broken,  bankrupt 
debtor  forever.  Hereb}^  I  shall  be  enabled  forever  to 
exalt  Him,  and  to  put  the  crown  upon  His  head,  and 


APPENDIX.  103 

that  is  all  I  want.  It  will  be  heaven  enough  to  join  that 
blessed  company,  who  are  crying,  IVort/iy  is  the  Lamb 
(but  none  else)  to  receive  poiucr  and  riches  and  ivisdom  and 
strength  and  honor  and  glory  and  blessing."  " 

"  Of  many  other  things— of  his  devotional  habits  and 
his  marvelous  gift  in  prayer— of  his  noble  virtues  as  a 
Christian  citizen  and  patriot— of  his  relations  to  his  old 
church  in  Mercer  street,  to  this  bereaved  church  of  the 
Covenant,  and  to  myself  as  his  pastor  in  both,  I  would 
gladly  speak  ;  but  time  forbids'  that  I  should  do  so  now. 
I  hasten  to  the  closing  hours. 

•'  The  death  of  his  old  and  greatly  beloved  friend,  iNIr. 
Barnes,  made  a  profound  impression  upon  him ;  and  after 
his  return  from  Philadelphia,  I  felt  that  he  might  slip 
away  from  us  at  any  moment.  His  heart  and  his  thoughts 
were,  plainly,  all  above,  where  Christ  sitteth  at  the  right 
hand  of  God.  In  a  letter  to  an  old  friend  in  Boston, 
dated  January  24th,  only  a  week  before  his  departure, 
he  writes  :  '  What  a  glorious  death  was  that  of  Albert 
Barnes  !  It  holds  me  wondering  and  praising  God  for 
His  singular  grace  to  that  very  remarkable  man.  Is  it 
possible  that  such  a  death  is  to  be  mine  ?  I  wish  to  die,  if 
God's  will  be  so,  in  mcdiis  rebus;  but  to  die  m  good  health 
2ind  without  pain  !  Is  such  a  mercy  in  reserve  for  me? 
Pray  for  me,  my  dear  friend,  that  die,  w^hen,  where,  or 
how  I  may,  I  may  glorify  God  in  dying.' 

"  But,  although  suffering  from  a  cold,  he  continued  his 
lectures,  as  usual,  until  Wednesday  of  last  week.  On 
Thursday,  a  physician  was  called  in  ;  but  it  w^as  not  until 
Tuesday  morning  of  this  week,  that  his  friends  became 
very  seriously  alarmed  at  his  condition.*  His  prostra- 
tion was  at  that  time  exceedingly  great.     He  lay  dozmg 

*  On  Monday  evening,  as  the  night  wore  on,  he  said  to  the  members  of 
his  family  about  him  :  "  You  can  leave  me  now  and  I  will  compose  myself 
to  sleep."  One  of  them,  however,  unobserved  by  him,  remained  in  the 
darkened  room.  He  immediately,  with  the  simplicity  of  a  child,  repeated 
to  himself  a  portion  of  Scripture,  recited  the  whole  of  his  favorite  hymn. 
"My  Jesus,  as  Thou  wilt,"  and  then  olTcrcd  aloud  his  evening  prayer. 


I04  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

at  intervals  throughout  the  day,  rarely  speaking,  save  in 
reply  to  questions,  and  evidently  disinclined  to  mental 
exertion  of  any  sort.  Towards  evening  he  was  much 
agitated  and  disturbed  by  an  effort  to  take  nourishment. 
An  attempt  was  therefore  made  to  divert  his  mind  from 
painful  thoughts  by  speaking  of  Christ.  He  instantly 
caught  at  the  allusion,  and  though  he  had  hitherto  spoken 
little,  and  that  with  great  difficulty,  his  whole  soul  roused 
itself,  and  he  broke  forth  into  the  most  wonderful  expres- 
sions of  love  to  his  Saviour,  closing  with  the  following 
stanzas  from  a  hymn  of  Watts,  which  he  repeated  with 
such  unction  and  energy  of  feeling,  that,  at  the  time,  the 
language  was  not  recognized  as  verse,  but  was  supposed 
to  be  his  own.  That  it  was  the  language  of  his  inmost 
heart  at  that  very  moment,  no  one  who  had  heard  the 
tones,  and  seen  the  worn,  yet  illumined  face,  could  for  an 
instant  doubt : 


"  '  Lord,  when  I  quit  this  earthly  stage, 

Where  shall  I  fl\-,  but  to  Thy  breast  ? 
For  I  have  sought  no  other  home  : 
For  I  have  learned  no  other  rest. 

"  '  I  cannot  live  contented  here 

Without  some  glimpses  of  Thy  face  ; 
And  heaven,  without  Thy  presence  there, 
Will  be  a  dark  and  tiresome  place. 

"  '  When  earthly  cares  engross  the  day, 

And  hold  my  thoughts  aside  from  Thee, 
The  shining  hours  of  cheerful  light 
Are  long  and  tedious  years  to  me. 

"  '  And  if  no  evening  visit's  paid 

Between  my  Saviour  and  my  soul, 
How  dull  the  night  !  how  sad  the  shade  ! 
How  mournfully  the  minutes  roll  ! 

"  '  This  flesh  of  mine  might  learn  as  soon 
To  live,  yet  part  with  all  my  blood  ; 
To  breathe,  when  vital  air  is  gone, 

Or  thrive  and  grow  without  my  food. 


APPENDIX.  105 

"  '  The  strings  that  twine  about  my  heart, 
Tortures  and  raci<s  may  tear  them  off  ; 
But  they  can  never,  never  part 
With  their  dear  hold  of  Christ,  my  Love. 

" '  My  God  !  and  can  an  humble  child, 

Who  loves  Thee  with  a  flame  so  high. 
Be  ever  from  Thy  face  exiled, 
Without  the  pity  of  Thine  eye  ? 

"  '  Impossible  !     For  Thine  own  hands 

Have  tied  my  heart  so  fast  to  Thee  ; 
And  in  Thy  book  the  promise  stands, 

That  where  Thou  art.  Thy  friends  must  be.' 

"  His  physicians  saw  him  early  on  Wednesda}'"  morning-, 
and  thought  he  might  perhaps  live  through  the  day. 
But  he  sank  rapidly,  and  his  mind  was  more  or  less  bewil- 
dered through  his  physical  exhaustion.  There  was  now 
and  then  a  whispered  word,  '  more  faith,'  '  blessed  Sav- 
iour,' '  a  poor  sinner,'  but  most  of  what  he  said  was  unin- 
telligible. At  about  a  quarter  before  eleven,  he  said,  with 
almost  a  smile  :  '  I  feel  a  great  deal  better,  and  am  going- 
to  get  up.'  Yielding  to  the  solicitation  to  remain  in  bed, 
he  lay  quietly  for  a  moment,  then  rose  and  sat  upright 
for  a  single  instant.  A  sudden  pallor  spread  over  his 
face,  and  he  was  tenderly  replaced  upon  his  pillow,  where 
he  drew  his  breath  gently  at  intervals,  but  so  gently 
that  those  who  watched  about  him  hardly  knew  at  what 
moment  the  ardent  soul  took  flight  from  the  exhausted 
body." 

Professor  Smith  then  spoke  as  follows  : 

"  Our  revered  father  and  brother  in  the  Christian  minis- 
try was  connected  with  the  Union  Theological  Seminary 
of  this  city,  as  a  Director  from  its  beginning  in  1836,  and 
as  its  Professor  of  Sacred  Rhetoric,  Pastoral  Theology, 
and  Church  Government  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury. Of  those  who  were  with  him  in  its  foundation,  only 
three  survive — Dr.  Adams,  Mr.  Charles  Butler,  (now  Pres- 


I06  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

ident  of  the  Board  of  Directors,)  and  Mr.  Fishej-  Howe, 
of  Brooklyn.  Our  Seminary  owes  as  much  to  Dr.  Skin- 
ner as  to  any  other  man ;  in  some  respects,  especially  in 
its  spiritual  power  and  history,  it  owes  more  to  him  than 
to  any  other  man.  I  am  to  say  a  few  words  on  what  he 
was  to  us,  and  of  our  special  loss.  This  is  not  the  time  to 
speak  of  him  in  the  details  of  his  life's  work. 

"A  theological  seminary  needs  to  be  poised  upon  a 
spiritual  centre;  not  only  to  be  rooted  in  Christ  the  Head, 
but  also  to  centre  in  some  visible  impersonation  of  the 
spiritual  power  of  a  living  Christian  faith,  animating  its 
members  by  example  and  by  word.  That  was  the  posi- 
tion which  our  venerable  senior  Professor  held  (all  uncon- 
sciously to  himself)  to  both  the  Faculty  and  the  students 
of  this  Institution.  Such  spiritual  force  is  silent,  it  is  not 
much  spoken  of;  but  its  loss  is  felt  as  we  feel  the  setting 
of  the  sun.  It  comes — it  can  come — only  from  a  life  in- 
stinct with  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come ;  it  cannot 
be  born  of  the  will  of  man ;  it  cannot  be  bought — the 
price  of  it  is  above  rubies ;  it  is  fashioned  by  divine  grace, 
and  its  presence  is  felt  rather  than  defined. 

"  Dr.  Skinner  came  to  us  in  the  full  vigor  of  his  intellect, 
and  gave  to  our  students  the  wisest  and  maturest  labors 
of  his  lengthened  life.  The  brilliant  enthusiasm  of  his 
earliest  ministry  in  Philadelphia,  heightened  by  its  con- 
flicts ;  the  ardent  and  pungent  evangelism,  the  flaming 
logic,  of  his  memorable  service  in  the  Mercer  street 
church,  built  by  and  for  him  ;  his  varied  and  earnest  stud- 
ies ;  his  catholic  spirit,  and  his  settled  Presbyterian  con- 
victions— all  worked  in  and  enabled  him,  at  an  age  when 
most  men  think  of  retiring  from  their  labors,  to  achieve 
high  repute  in  a  new  work.  He  was  nearly  three-score 
years  of  age  when  he  began  his  instructions  to  our  classes : 
but  very  few  men  have  such  tenacity  and  elasticity  of  both 
body  and  mind.  One  reason  of  his  endurance  and  suc- 
cess is,  that  he  wisely  stuck  to  his  proper  work. 

*•'  His  old  age,  the  period  commonly  so  called,  was  in- 


APPENDIX.  107 

deed  remarkable.  Few  men  whose  lives  are  so  long  spared 
are  what  be  was.  He  never  outlived  his  enthusiasm  for 
anything  good  and  true,  even  though  it  might  be  new. 
On  the  themes  that  interested  him  he  would  light  up  to 
the  last  with  the  fervor  of  youth.  In  his  higher  mental 
powers  he  did  not  seem  to  grow  old.  Now  and  then  the 
brightness  of  his  eye  was  dimmed,  his  hearing  became  a 
shade  less  acute,  his  abstraction  from  external  things  was 
somewhat  more  noticeable;  but  his  intellect  remained 
clear  and  intent ;  his  soul  grew  larger  with  his  growing 
years,  and  the  scope  of  his  spiritual  vision  was  widened 
as  he  mounted  higher  and  higher.  How  easily  he  sur- 
passed us  all  in  spiritual  discernment, 

"  And  this  was  what  distinguished  him  :  while  living  in 
the  world  he  lived  above  the  world.  I  have  never  known 
a  more  unwordly  character.  He  was  absorbed  by  a 
hio-her  life.  The  so-called  fascinations  and  distractions  of 
this  teeming  metropolis  were  no  temptations  to  him ;  he 
was  among  them  but  not  of  them  ;  they  just  glanced  off 
from  his  untarnished  shield.  xA-nd  even  in  the  Church  he 
could  never  understand  manoeuvring  and  ecclesiastical 
politics ;  he  knew  so  little  about  such  by-means  that  he 
was  really  amazed  at  them.  He  just  thought  and  said 
what  seemed  true,  and  did  what  seemed  right,  and  all  the 
rest  was  no  concern  of  his,  somebody  would  take  care  of 
it.  And  he  was  so  single-minded  that,  had  the  necessity 
come,  he  would,  I  doubt  not,  have  marched  to  the  stake 
singing  the  song  of  victory.     He  believed  in  another  life. 

"  In  Plato's  immortal  description  of  the  cave  and  the 
light,  he  tells  us  that  the  dwellers  in  the  cave  when  they 
come  to  the  hght  seem  to  others  to  be  dazed.  There  is 
always  a  kind  of  abstraction  about  great  thinkers,  poets, 
and  divines.  Common  people  cannot  quite  see  through 
them.  They  speak  from  a  larger  view  and  to  a  greater 
audience  than  that  of  their  own  generation.  Mutely  they 
appeal  to  a  coming  tribunal.  And  so  our  departed  friend 
was  at  times  engrossed  and  absorbed  in  the  high  subjects 


I08  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

of  Christian  thought.  He  pondered  them  by  day  and  by 
night.  He  saw  them  from  the  INIount  of  Visioiv  He  de- 
scribed them  in  glowing  periods.  His  fellowship  was 
with  the  Father  and  the  Son.  If  he  thought  and  spake 
less  of  the  things  of  time,  it  was  because  like  Paul  he  was 
rapt  in  a  higher  sphere — where  God's  '  glory  smote  him 
in  the  face.' 

"  He  was  to  the  last  a  reader,  a  student,  and  a  thinker. 
No  student  in  the  Seminar}^  had  a  keener  relish  for  hard 
work  than  he,  or  found  more  to  learn.  Until  within  two 
or  three  years  he  was  always  re-writing  his  lectures  and 
even  his  sermons.  His  most  carefully  prepared  work,  his 
*  Discussions  in  Theology,'  an  admirable  book,  was  pub- 
lished only  three  years  ago.  Some  of  the  essays  in  it  are 
not  only  complete  in  their  anatomy,  but  are  finished  with 
the  refined  art  of  a  sculptor. 

"  And  the  same  volume  also  defines  his  theological  po- 
sition. In  seeking  for  truth  he  never  seemed  to  ask,  what 
is  the  view  of  my  side,  but  what  is  the  truth  itself?  He 
did  not  take  his  definitions  from  any  man.  Cordially  at- 
tached to  the  theology  of  the  Reformed  churches,  he  was 
always  willing  to  merge  lesser  differences  for  the  sake  of 
the  unity  and  prosperity  of  the  Church. 

"  His  seminary  duties  were  not  official  tasks ;  he  loved 
his  work,  and  it  grew  upon  him.  His  lectures  on  Church 
Government,  and  Sacred  Rhetoric,  and  the  Pastoral 
Office,  were  wrought  out  with  comprehensive  thought 
and  care.  To  the  very  last  he  read  all  new  works  on 
these  subjects,  though  he  did  not  find  in  them  much  that 
was  new  to  him.  But  he  praised  many  a  book,  and  many 
a  sermon,  rather  from  the  fulness  of  his  own  vision  than 
from  what  others  could  find  in  them. 

"All  true  human  greatness  is  also  humble;  it  docs  not 
seem  to  seek  its  own.  With  his  acknowledged  superior- 
ity, how  deferential  was  our  brother  to  others,  even  to 
men  of  low  estate!  It  was  sometimes  embarrassing  to  us 
to  find  that  he  was  not  aware  of  his  own  superior  posi- 


APPENDIX. 


109 


tion.  He  was  among  us  as  one  that  serveth.  There  was 
about  him  a  certain  grace  of  manner,  an  old-time  chivalry 
of  tone  (now  almost  a  tradition)  towards  those  less  and 
younger  and  weaker  than  himself,  which  showed  the  true 
nobility  of  his  soul.  It  came  from  his  high  sense  of  per- 
sonal honor,  which  made  him  honor  all  men.  He  was 
magnanimous,  because  he  was  humble. 

"  And  what  a  helper  and  friend  he  was  !  His  personal 
affections  were  unswerving.  When  I  came  here,  he  took 
me  by  the  hand,  and  its  cordial  pressure  was  never  re- 
laxed. ^  When  the  pastor  of  this  church  succeeded  him  in 
the  ministry,  no  one  greeted  him,  and  no  one  has  clung 
to  him,  as  did  he.  He  was  never  weary  of  talking  of  his 
old  friends  at  home  in  North  Carolina,  of  Dr.  Wilson,  and 
brother  Patterson,  and  Albert  Barnes— with  whom  he  was 
united  in  life,  and  by  death  not  long  divided,— of  his 
teachers  and  class-mates  in  Nassau  Hall.  What  he  was 
as  a  husband  and  a  father— dearest  of  all  earthly  names— 
they  only  fully  know  who  to-day  mourn  most  deeply  and 
are  most  deeply  comforted. 

"  A  thousand  of  his  pupils,  all  over  our  country  and  in 
many  a  distant  land,  mourn  w^ith  us  his  loss ;  and  many 
thousands  to  whom  he  preached  the  Gospel,  will  sorrow 
for  him  who  led  them  to  Christ,  and  by  his  own  life 
showed  the  way 

"  As  a  teacher  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  he  was  cor- 
dially attached  to  its  doctrine  and  government.  But  this 
did  not  exclude,  it  rather  favored,  his  love  for  the  whole 
body  of  Christ.  It  not  only  gave  him  zeal  for  our  auspi- 
cious reunion,  but  enlarged  his  love  for  all  who  profess 
and  call  themselves  Christians.  His  charity  could  not  be 
bounded  by  the  confines  of  any  sect.  He  believed  more 
fully  in  the  invisible  than  in  the  visible  Church.  He  loved 
all  the  brethren,  and  labored  for  all  men. 

"  His  power  and  influence  as  a  theological  teacher  were 
also  increased  by  his  keen  sense  of  the  honor  and  dignity 
of  his  own  profession.     In  this  he  was  not  humble,  for  he 


no  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

Spake  from  a  high  calling.  Necessity  was  laid  upon  him. 
No  student  could  doubt  that  he  really  felt,  Woe  is  unto 
me  and  to  you,  if  we  do  not  preach  the  Gospel,  for  eter- 
nity is  here  at  stake.  No  one  could  doubt  that  he  truly 
beheved  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel  to  be  the  highest  and 
the  most  serviceable  office  which  man  can  fill,  that  of  an 
ambassador  for  Christ,  at  the  service  of  all  men  for  their 
spiritual  welfare. 

"  His  personal  power  was  also  enhanced,  year  by  year, 
with  the  increase  of  his  spiritual  life ;  while  the  outward 
man  was  perishing,  the  inward  m'an  was  renewed  day  by 
day.  He  became  more  and  more  a  hving  Epistle,  a  Gos- 
pel of  God's  grace,  known  and  read  of  all  men.  Vexed 
and  perplexing  questions  -were  merged  in  a  higher  life. 
Revealed  facts  took  the  place  of  disputed  propositions. 
The  living  Christ  took  the  place  of  the  doctors  of  the 
schools,  and  with  advantage. 

"  Thus  he  lived  and  grew^  day  by  day,  in  his  serene  and 
hallowed  old  age,  towards  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  a 
perfect  man  in  Christ  Jesus.  Was  he,  then,  a  saint  on 
earth?  He  was  called  to  be  a  saint,  and  he  was  always 
fulfiUing  his  caUing,  not  counting  himself  to  have  attained, 
but  ever  pressing  onward.  Upon  the  whole  I  think  he 
was  as  saint-like  a  man  as  any  of  us  have  ever  seen. 

"  So  he  lived  on,  with  his  wiry  and  flexible  frame,  mind 
and  body  active  to  the  last.  Every  succeeding  winter 
we  have  thought  might  be  too  much  for  him.  But  he 
bore  up  bravely — till  he  touched  the  verge  of  four-score 
years.  The  shadows  of  his  life  lengthened,  but  he  saw 
not  the  shadows,  for  his  face  was  turned  to  the  light.  Ten 
days  ago  I  met  him  at  the  Seminary  for  the  last  time  ;  and 
his  grasp  was  as  firm  and  his  look  as  warm  as  ever ;  though 
even  then  he  said :  "  I  cannot  long  be  Avith  you."  He 
went  out  into  the  piercing  cold — its  rigor  seized  upon 
him,  its  fatal  grasp  could  not  be  loosened  ;  his  time  had 
come ;  his  Master  called,  and  Ire  was  always  ready.  Of 
death  he  had  no  fear,  though  he  sometimes  said  that  he 


APPENDIX.  I  I  I 

shrank  from  dying.     But  at  last  even  this  natural  fear 
passed  away,  and  he  could  say  with  a  full  heart: 

"Welcome  the  liour  of  full  discharge, 
Which  sets  my  longing  soul  at  large, 
Unbinds  my  chains,  breaks  up  my  cell, 
And  gives  me  with  my  God  to  dwell." 

"  To  him  '  dying  was  but  going  home.'  Peacefully  he 
passed  away  as  a  child  to  its  rest.  He  has  gone  where 
there  is  no  more  Winter  :  there  everlasting  Spring  abides. 
He  is  with  the  patriarchs  and  apostles  and  saints  and 
brethren  he  loved  so  well ;  and  yet  he  hardly  sees  them 
in  his  impassioned  vision  of  One  whose  name  is  above 
every  name,  and  whose  image  was  upon  his  soul.  He 
has  heard  the  welcome,  *  Well  done,  good  and  faithful 
servant,  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord.'  And  over 
his  grave  we  can  only  say — mastering  our  grief — Blessed 
are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord." 

The  following  is  the  substance  of  Dr.  Adams's  remarks : 

"  The  world  will  seem  much  more  lonely  to  very  many, 
because  this  eminent  servant  of  God  has  gone  out  of  it ; 
but  how  much  better  for  the  world,  because  he  has  lived 
in  it! 

"  To  utter  his  eulogy  is  to  be  rebuked  by  the  remem- 
brance of  his  modesty.  Why  did  he  hold  so  high  a  place 
in  the  esteem  of  all?  Because  he  was  so  lowly  in  his  own. 
Why  were  all  disposed  to  defer  to  him  and  to  honor  him  ? 
Because  he  never  obtruded  himself  upon  any.  So  exqui- 
site was  his  taste,  so  highly  cultivated  his  religious  sensi- 
bility, that  he  was  accustomed  to  shrink  from  any  refer- 
ence to  himself  While,  at  proper  times,  in  proper  places, 
for  high  uses  he  displayed  the  thoroughness  of  his  self- 
knowledge,  the  profound  skill  and  honesty  of  his  self-anal- 
)^sis,  he  did  not'  abound  in  profuse  allusions  to  his  own 
spiritual  experience,  for  that  was  too  deep  and  sacred  to 
be  evaporated  in  flippant  speech.     There  is  a-  lesson  in 


112  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

this  which  is  good  for  all.  One  should  never  make  a  turn- 
pike of  his  heart  for  promiscuous  travel.  There  is  an  ex- 
posure of  one's  own  mind  scarcely  less  indecorous  than 
that  of  the  person.  The  memory  of  what  Dr.  Skinner 
truly  was,  makes  one  to  weigh  every  word  concerning 
him  with  a  most  cautious  regard  to  his  refined,  sensitive, 
and  delicate  sense  of  propriety. 

"  His  career  as  a  Christian  preacher  began  in  times  of 
sharp  theological  controversy.  His  mind  was  too  eager 
and  active,  and  his  logical  habits  of  thought  were  too  ex- 
act to  allow  him  to  be  indifferent  to  the  questions  then  in 
debate;  but  never  did  he  suffer  himself  to  be  diverted 
from  his  one  great  work  as  a  preacher  of  the  '  glorious 
Gospel  of  the  blessed  God.'  His  nicest  metaphysical  dis- 
tinctions all  came  into  play,  not  as  arid  learning,  but  as 
practical  helps,  when  in  the  pulpit  he  commended  the 
truth  to  the  human  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God. 

"  The  period,  in  which  the  best  part  of  his  ministerial 
life  was  spent,  was  distinguished  by  those  extraordinary 
effusions  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  were  hardly  less  re- 
markable than  '  the  great  awakening'  in  the  last  century, 
as  associated  with  the  pen  and  preaching  of  Jonathan  Ed- 
wards. With  the  quickest  instinct  he  interpreted,  and 
with  the  warmest  sympathy  he  entered  into  that  great 
work  of  God.  It  gave  a  peculiar  point  and  character  to 
all  his  preaching  through  life.  So  thorough  was  his  self- 
conviction  as  to  the  truth,  that  he  seemed  always  to  ex- 
pect that  others  would  be  convinced  also.  He  unfolded 
and  enforced  the  truth  as  with  the  utmost  confidence  of 
success.  He  cherished  an  attachment  for  his  profession 
which  amounted  to  a  noble  and  fervent  enthusiam.  Like 
George  Herbert,  whom,  in  many  points  he  resembled,  he 
regarded  his  pulpit  as  his  'joy  and  throne.'  So  earnest 
was  his  manner,  and  glowing  his  discourse,  that  he  always 
made  the  impression  on  his  hearers  that  he  expected,  and 
with  good  reason,  an  immediate  verdict,  and  was  disap- 
pointed if  it  was  not  given.     Those  memorable  scenes  in 


ATPENDIX.  113 

Philadelphia,  in  New  Haven,  in  New  York,  when  preach- 
ing with  such  demonstrations  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power, 
inquirers  and  converts  were  computed  by  hundreds  and 
thousands,  and  a  whole  audience  bent  toward  him  like  a 
field  of  grain  !  Then  was  it  that  he  plied  his  sickle  well, 
and  filled  his  bosom  with  many  sheaves.  How  many  are 
already  garnered  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  how  many 
still  living  in  these  churches  and  pulpits,  who  will  always 
hail  him  as  the  chosen  means  of  mercy  to  their  souls  ! 

"  Dr.  Skinner  was,  to  use  an  expression,  which  in  old 
English  bore  a  peculiar  sense,  a  perfect  Christian  gentle- 
man. He  was  a  specimen  of  spiritual  beauty.  How  pure, 
how  gentle,  how  guileless,  how  kind,  how  courteous,  how 
free  from  all  suspicion  of  worldly  ambition !  How  sweet 
his  latest  experience  !  How  often  has  it  been  said  of  him 
by  his  friends,  '  He  is  fast  ripening  for  heaven.'  Like  ripe 
fruit  has  he  fallen,  in  its  time,  detached  by  no  violence. 
Age  had  impaired  none  of  his  faculties,  only  imparted  ad- 
ditional serenity  to  his  countenance,  sweetness  to  his 
manners,  and  beauty  to  his  character,  as  the  disc  of  the 
setting  sun  seems  to  be  larger,  and  its  lustre  to  be  softer 
than  when  in  its  meridian.  How  calmly  has  he  been  sit- 
ting in  his  stall  in  the  cathedral  of  hfe,  with  the  banner  of 
Christ's  love  over  his  head,  waiting  for  the  service  to  be 
over,  that  he  might  say  with  all  his  heart.  Amen.  That 
word  he  has  pronounced  ;  and  he  has  received  the  end  of 
his  faith  the  salvation  of  his  soul. 

"  How  nigh  heaven  is  brought  to  us  by  such  translations  ! 
How  fast  heaven  is  enriching  itself  with  the  spoils  gath- 
ered from  our  friendships,  our  homes,  churches  and  pul- 
pits !" 

At  the  close  of  the  services  in  the  church,  the  remains 
were  taken  to  the  Marble  Cemetery  on  Second  street. 
They  were  borne  by  the  students  of  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  the  following  clergymen  acting  as  pall-bearers: 
Rev.  Dr.  De  Witt,  Reformed ;  Rev.  Dr.  Anderson,  Bap- 
8 


114  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

tist;  Bishop  Janes,  Methodist;  Rev.  Samuel  H.  Cox, 
D.D.,  Presbyterian  ;  Rev.  Dr.  Tyng,  Episcopal ;  Rev.  Dr. 
Hutton,  Reformed  ;  Rev.  Dr.  Paxton,  Presbyterian  ;  Rev. 
Dr.  Cheever,  Congregationalist.  The  closing  benediction, 
at  the  grave,  was  pronounced  by  the  venerable  Bishop 
Janes. 

At  one  o'clock,  an  hour  before  the  public  obsequies,  a 
meeting  of  clergymen  of  different  denominations,  belong- 
ing to  New  York  and  its  vicinity,  was  held  in  the  chapel 
of  the  Church  of  the  Covenant,  at  which  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Murray,  Pastor  of  the  Brick  Church,  presided.  It  was 
thus  referred  to  in  the  Observer  of  the  following  week : 

"  How  beautiful  the  last  scenes  in  the  earthly  history 
of  the  beloved  and  honored  Dr.  Skinner.  His  brethren 
in  the  ministry,  of  all  names,  came  together,  crowding 
the  chapel  till  no  more  could  enter,  and  then  they  spake 
one  to  another  of  his  graces  and  his  gifts,  how  the  spirit 
of  the  Master  shone  in  his  face  and  words  and  ways ;  how 
pure  and  simple  and  childlike  he  was ;  how  wise,  and 
great  and  good  !  And  old  men  told  of  their  debts  to  him 
for  impressions  made  on  them  for  life  when  they  were 
young,  and  others  said  the  world  to  come  could  alone 
reveal  the  extent  and  fullness  of  his  power.  And  they 
asked  to  have  the  coffin  with  his  remains  brought  in 
among  them,  that  they  might  once  more  look  upon  the 
sweet  face  they  had  so  long  admired  and  loved.  His 
loving  students  took  him  up  with  tender  hands,  and 
brought  him  in  and  laid  him  down  in  the  midst  of  the  sor- 
rowing company.  And  the  old  men — Dr.  Spring,  older 
by  six  years  than  the  departed.  Dr.  Cox  and  Dr.  De  Witt, 
very  nearly  the  same  age — came  to  the  side  of  the  coffin 
and  dropped  tears  of  affection  there  ;  and  then  the  young- 
er, but  not  young  men,  many  of  them  with  white  locks 
and  bending  with  years,  passed  by ;  and  then  the  strong 
men  and  those  in  early  life,  came  and  looked  upon  the 


APPENDIX.  115 

quiet  countenance  of  him  whose  soul  was  even  then  in 
the  joy  of  his  Lord. 

"  And  when  all  had  taken  a  last  look  of  their  father  and 
friend,  the  young  men  carried  him  out  to  the  church, 
where  the  great  congregation  had  met  for  his  funeral. 

''  It  is  rare,  in  the  life-time  of  any  of  us,  that  such  a  fu- 
neral sarvice  is  rendered." 

At  this  meeting  in  the  chapel,  very  interesting  ad- 
dresses were  made  by  Rev.  Dr.  S.  H.  Cox,  one  of  Dr.  Skin- 
ner's oldest  and  dearest  friends  ;  Rev.  Dr.  Roche,  of  the 
Methodist;  Rev.  Dr.  Rogers,  of  the  Reformed;  Rev.  Dr. 
J.  P.  Thompson,  of  the  Congregational,  and  Rev.  Drs. 
Tyng  and  John  Cotton  Smith,  of  the  Episcopal  church. 
The  following  minute,  prepared  and  presented  by  Rev. 
Dr.  Thompson,  and  seconded  by  Dr.  Tyng,  was  unani- 
mously adopted  : 

"  We,  the  clergy  of  New  York  and  vicinity,  assembled 
to  render  the  last  offices  of  respect  and  affection  to  the 
Rev.  Thomas  H.  Skinner,  D.D.,  so  widely  venerated  and 
beloved  as  pastor,  teacher,  counsellor  and  friend,  remind- 
ing ourselves  of  his  own  devout  and  adoring  sentiment — 
that  '  it  is  the  chief  glory  of  the  divine  attributes,  that 
they  are  all  in  the  service  of  Love' — would  humbly  ac- 
knowledge the  dispensation  of  Providence  which  has  re- 
moved him  from  among  us,  as  but  another  expression 
of  that  Love  which  qualified  him  for  such  usefulness  in 
the  Church,  and  continued  him  so  long,  with  powers  un- 
dimmed  and  with  graces  ever  brightening,  in  his  sphere 
of  honorable  and  beneficent  service.  Having  accom- 
plished the  four-score  years  of  life,  and  almost  three-score 
years  of  unabated  work  in  the  ministry,  having  gathered 
the  largest  fruits  of  honor,  blessedness  and  reward  in  his 
^Lister's  kingdom  upon  earth,  and  having  outlived  the 
major  part  of  the  co-laborers  of  his  youth  and  prime,  there 


Il6  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

remained  nothing  to  crown  his  age  and  fulfill  his  joy,  but 
that  he  should  '  depart  and  be  with  Christ.' 

"  Above  ail  would  we  magnify  in  his  death  that  grace 
which  rendered  him  in  life  so  conspicuous,  in  the  rare 
combination  of  a  noble  and  disciplined  intellect  conse- 
crated to  truth,  a  childlike  simplicity  of  faith,  and  a  ser- 
aphic fervor  of  devotion. 

"For  singleness  of  aim  in  personal  sanctification,  tes- 
tifying with  Paul,  '  this  one  thing  I  do,  reaching  forth 
to  those  things  which  are  before ;'  for  singleness  of  pur- 
pose in  his  ministry,  as  determined  with  Paul,  '  not  to 
know  anything  save  Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified ;'  for 
singleness  of  devotion,  that  re-produced  in  his  conscious- 
ness the  experience  of  Paul,  '  for  me  to  live  is  Christ ;'  for 
loftiness  of  ideal,  that  set  the  Christian  character  above 
all  earthly  standards,  and  the  kingdom  of  God  above  all 
earthly  good  ;  for  guilelessness  of  spirit,  that  exemplified 
the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  the  children  of  God ;  for 
a  courtesy  and  kindliness  that  beautified  the  dail}^  inter- 
course of  life,  and  adorned  his  public  teaching ;  for  an 
unction  of  speech  and  a  saintliness  of  conversation,  that 
were  the  open  testimony  of  the  Father  to  his  communings 
with  God  in  secret ;  for  a  zeal  for  God,  which  ofttimes 
'  had  eaten  him  up,'  had  not  the  doing  of  the  will  of  God 
been  *  meat  and  drink'  to  body  and  soul ;  for  boldness  in 
declaring  the  truth  and  contending  for  the  faith  ;  for  a 
breadth  of  charity  that  embraced  all  that  love  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  a  sympathetic  yearning  for  souls  that 
caused  him  to  keep  vigils  for  their  salvation ;  for  a  gran- 
deur of  hope,  that  kept  ever  before  him  the  millennial  glo- 
ries as  palpable  realities,  and  an  exaltation  of  faith,  that 
held  him  serene  and  steadfast  above  all  assaults  of  the  ad- 
versary upon  his  own  peace  or  the  peace  of  the  Church, 
and  that  seemed  at  times  to  lift  him  out  of  the  body,  in 
his  rapturous  discourse  of  the  government  of  God  and 
the  glories  of  redemption  ;  for  these  manifold  and  illustri- 
ous graces  of  the  Spirit,  his  memory  shall  be  cherished 


APTEXDIX.  117 

among  us,  and  be  transmitted  in  the  schools  of  the  proph- 
ets, as  a  motive  to  the  highest  attainments  in  excellence 
and  usefulness,  and  especially  to  that  elevated  and  cultured 
piety  which  is  the  true  strength  of  the  Christian  ministry. 

"Remembering  also  how  in  him  metaphysical  acumen 
and  logical  vigor,  profound  meditation  and  persistent 
study,  were  appHed  to  the  deep  things  of  God,  without 
abating  the  freshness  of  his  faith,  the  fervor  of  his  devo- 
tion, the  enthusiasm  of  his  love,  in  respect  to.the  simplest 
doctrines  of  salvation ;  how  the  nicest  discrimination  and 
the  choicest  diction  of  the  Christian  scholar  were  brought 
to  the  elucidation  of  Bible  truth  ;  we  would  make  grateful 
record  of  such  an  example  of  consecrated  intellect  in  this 
speculative  and  rationalizing  age ;  and  would  encourage 
ourselves  and  the  ministry  at  large  to  assert  the  supreme 
claim  of  the  Gospel  upon  all  the  powers  of  the  human  soul. 

"  In  sympathy  with  the  whole  Church  bereaved  of  such 
a  leader,  we  would  humbly  commend  the  cause  of  sacred 
learning,  the  pastoral  office,  the  training  of  the  ministry, 
our  several  departments  of  labor  in  the  Christian  house- 
hold, and  the  personal  household  of  our  departed  brother 
with  which  we  share  the  sorrows,  the  memories,  and  the 
hopes  of  this  hour— to  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church, 
our  sjHTjpathizing  and  comforting  Redeemer,  who  '  con- 
tinueth  ever.'  " 

The  Rev.  J.  A.  Roche,  D.D.,  has  kindly  furnished  the 
substance  of  his  glowing  tribute,  which  was  as  follows: 

"A  distinguished  writer  has  remarked  of  one  whose 
biography  he  w'rote,  that  so  great  were  the  advantages 
he  w-as  conscious  of  having  received  from  the  wise  and 
weighty  teacher  of  his  former  yeai's,  that  he  asserted,  in  his 
later  life,  he  passed  no  day  without  experiencing  some  bene- 
fit from  the  lessons  and  example  of  his  honored  instructor. 

"  Such  are  the  obligations  I  acknowledge  in  speaking 
of  Dr.  Skinner.  I  had  often  heard  of  his  remarkable  min- 
istry in  Philadelphia,  where,  at  a  subsequent  period,  I  w^as 


Il8  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

a  pastor.  After  my  removal  to  New  York,  I  availed  my- 
self of  the  opportunity  of  attending  his  lectures  on  '  Sa- 
cred Rhetoric  and  Pastoral  Theology,'  in  the  Union  Theo- 
logical Seminary.  I  had  been  in  the  ministry  more  than 
twenty  years.  I  was  not  without  apprehension  that  theo- 
logical seminaries  are  too  nearly,  as  Rowland  Hill  ex- 
presses it,  '  Manufactories  to  turn  out  preachers.'  With 
John  Newton,  I  said  :  '  Only  God  can  make  the  minister.' 
But  when  I  heard  Dr.  Skinner  on  the  call  and  the  devo- 
tion to  the  ministry,  the  sacrifices  to  be  made,  the  ser- 
vices to  be  performed,  the  sufferings  to  be  accepted,  the 
spirit  to  be  cherished,  exhibited,  maintained  ;  when  I 
heard  him  assert  the  authority,  declare  the  themes,  and 
urge  the  qualifications — the  Divine  qualifications  of  the 
preacher  of  righteousness ;  when  I  saw  the  breadth  of 
the  lecturer's  culture,  and  the  nearness  of  his  walk  with 
God  ;  when  I  witnessed  the  sweetness  and  urbanity  of 
his  temper,  the  purity  and  elevation  of  his  character  ; 
when  I  beheld  the  stores  of  his  knowledge,  and  felt  the 
force  of  his  logic,  and  the  power  of  an  elocution  that  did 
even  transcend  his  clear,  pure,  vigorous  style  ;  when  in 
his  discourse  he  so  '  projected  himself,'  that  the  man  ap- 
peared in  the  full  play  and  direction  of  all  the  faculties 
and  forces  of  his  intellectual  and  moral  being — in  the  in- 
tense earnestness  that  uniformly  distinguished  his  efforts 
— when  there  was  felt  the  influence  of  his  matchless  man- 
ner, as  he  urged  those  before  him,  not  only  to  preach 
Christ,  but  to  preach  Christ  crucified,  not  simply  Christ 
as  an  example,  but  in  His  death  as  an  atonement ;  when 
I  saw  from  week  to  week,  from  month  to  month,  how  he 
huml)led  man  and  exalted  God,  and  what  an  unction  rested 
on  him  in  his  lectures  ;  -I  was  so  impressed  with  the  ad- 
vantages that  the  young  men  had  in  such  training,  that  I 
went  from  the  seminar}^  time  after  time,  saying  :  '  Happy 
arc  thy  men — happy  are  these — which  stand  continually 
before  thee,  and  that  hear  thy  wisdom.'  The  language 
of  Rowland  Hill  dropped  from  my  thoughts  when  I  heard 


APPENDIX.  119 

Dr.  Skinner.  Not  the  '  manufactory  to  turn  out  preach- 
ers,' but  the  *  school  of  the  prophets,'  became  my  idea  of 
the  Theological  Seminary. 

"  For  3'ears  I  have  deemed  it  one  of  the  greatest  privi- 
leges and  richest  blessings  of  my  life,  that  I  was  permitted 
to  hear  and  see  and  feel  so  much  of  the  instruction  and 
example  and  spirit  of  this  great  and  good  man,  from  whom 
death  has  now  separated  us. 

"  Such  was  m}'  delight  in  his  lectures,  that  I  twice  took 
the  same  course.  They  were  to  me,  at  once,  an  intellec- 
tual feast  and  a  means  of  grace.  I  am  very  culpable,  if  I 
am  not  a  better  thinker,  purer  Christian,  and  a  more  suc- 
cessful preacher,  for  having  so  well  known  Dr.  Skinner. 
Nay,  there  is  cause  for  self-condemnation,  if  to-day  I  am 
not  a  better  specimen  of  a  man  from  having  enjoyed  such 
intercourse  with  this  one  of  Nature's  noblemen,  this  one 
of  the  'princes  of  God's  people.' 

"  To  say  that  I  admired  him,  loved  him,  is  to  say  too 
little.  How  near  he  was  to  my  ideal  man,  minister.  Chris- 
tian ! 

"  I  never  knew  so  well,  how  great  a  sermon  can  be  as  a 
composition,  or  as  a  moral  power,  till  I  heard  him  tell  it. 
Truth  never  seemed  Hke  such  a  projectile  as  when  I  saw 
him  launch  it.  God's  ministers  never  seemed  so  exalted 
and  the  themes  of  the  pulpit  so  sublime,  as  when  he  de- 
scribed the  one  and  declared  the  other. 

"  He  regarded  Jonathan  Edwards  as  equally  distin- 
guished as  a  metaphysician  and  preacher,  and  he  de- 
lighted to  show  the  great  power  of  Edwards  in  such 
sermons  as  '  Sinners  in  the  hands  of  an  angry  God,'  and 
when  on  one  occasion,  a  member  of  the  class  asked  if 
'  Such  preaching  would  do  in  the  present  day.'  He  re- 
plied, with  great  animation,  '  I  would  walk  fifty  miles  to 
hear  that  sermon.'  Twice  Dr.  S.  preached  for  me  in  my 
pulpit,  once  on  '  The  Necessity  of  the  New  Birth,'  once 
on  '  Past  Feeling.'  The  latter  sermon  I  importuned  him 
to  publish. 


120  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

"  There  was  in  the  movement  of  his  mind,  the  magni- 
tude of  his  matter,  the  weight  of  his  sentences,  the  force 
of  his  arguments,  the  depth  of  his  feeling,  and  the  afflatus 
that  rested  upon  him,  that  which  made  him  seem  majes- 
tic. He  awed  me.  A  distinguished  ph3-sician  and  pro- 
fessor of  medical  science  in  Philadelphia,  once  told  me, 
'  He  never  saw  God  till  Dr.  Skinner  showed  Him.'  Then 
he  '  abhorred  himself.'  I  have  known  no  ministry,  that 
in  my  estimate,  more  nearly  assimilated  to  Edwards  than 
that  of  Skinner. 

"  He  was  a  Presbyterian,  I  a  Methodist ;  but  as  he 
stated  the  doctrines  he  believed  and  taught,  there  was  in 
me  no  heart  for  controversy.  It  is  an  humble  tribute 
that  I  can  pay  to  so  good  and  great  a  man,  but  I  can 
show  my  heart. 

"  In  my  preparations  for  the  pulpit,  in  my  labors  of  the 
pastorate,  in  my  cheerful  acceptance  of  the  privations  of 
the  sacred  calling,  in  my  enthusiasm  for  the  work,  and  in 
my  superiority  of  mind  and  heart  to  all  the  discourage- 
ments of  the  gospel  ministr}^  I  pass  no  day  without  some 
advantage  derived  from  this  master  in  Israel,  whose  mem- 
ory I  so  cherish.  How  much  earth  loses  when  such  a 
man  is  taken.  How  much  heaven  gains  when  such  a 
saint  enters  its  portals.  It  is  my  joy  to  anticipate  a  meet- 
ing, when  with  a  greater  warmth  than  ever,  I  will  grasp 
his  hand,  and  tell  him,  if  I  can,  how  much  good  he  did  in 
helping  me  to  honor  that  Christ  at  whose  feet  he  '  casts 
his  crown.'  " 

The  following  letter  of  Rev.  Charles  Hodge,  D.  D.,  ad- 
dressed to  the  Faculty  of  the  Union  Theological  Semi- 
nary, will  be  here  in  place  : 

"Princeton,  February  15,  1871. 
"  Dear  Brethren, — When  your  beloved  and  revered 
colleague.  Dr.  Thomas   H.  vSkinncr,  was  called  awa}^  I 
was  ill  in  bed.     I  was  not  informed  of  his  death  for  more 


APPENDIX.  121 

than  a  week  after  its  occurrence.  I  wish  these  facts  to 
be  known  ;  because  few  persons  were  under  stronger  ob- 
ligations to  stand  at  the  grave  of  Thomas  H.  Skinner 
than  myself;  and  few  had  a  better  right  to  appear  there 
as  a  mourner. 

"  For  more  than  fifty-five  years  I  knew,  loved  and  hon- 
ored him,  and  was  loved  and  trusted  by  him.  Of  this  he 
often  assured  me,  and  no  man  ever  doubted  his  sincerity. 

"  You  must  excuse  the  personal  character  of  this  com- 
munication. I  cannot  forbear  entering  my  claim  to  be 
counted  among  the  oldest  and  most  devoted  of  his 
friends. 

"  He  was  a  man  by  himself.  The  union  of  high  gifts, 
with  the  most  transparent,  child-like  simplicity  of  charac- 
ter, gave  him  a  peculiar  position  in  the  love  and  admira- 
tion of  his  friends. 

"  With  great  respect,  yours  in  Christian  bonds, 

"  Charles  Hodge." 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  Dr.  Thayer's  sermon, 
referred  to  in  the  discourse  : 

^^Hcnccfortli  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  croivn  of  righteous- 
ness, ivhich  the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give  vie  at 
that  day,  and  not  to  vie  only,  but  unto  all  them  also  that  love 
His  appearing.  Yes,  that  was  the  end  of  Paul's  conflicts 
on  earth.  In  a  moment's  time  he  would  be  with  that  be- 
loved and  glorious  Lord  ;  and  when  Christ  should  ap- 
pear, Paul  should  also  appear  with  Him  in  glory.  Nor 
is  this  true  of  Paul  only.  We  thank  God  it  is  just  as 
true  of  all  who  fight  the  good  fight  and  keep  the  faith. 
So,  to-day,  we  think  of  one  more  noble  spirit  who,  after  a 
long  life  of  loving  service,  has  entered  into  the  joy  of  his 
Lord.  We  sorrow  that  we  shall  see  his  face  no  more  in 
this  church  he  loved  to  frequent,  nor  hear  his  voice  in 
the  prayer-meeting,  from  which  he  was  so  rarely  absent. 


122  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

Hardly  among  his  own  people  in  New  York  will  Chris- 
tians mourn  for  him  more  than  will  those  of  this  church, 
who  have  enjo3"ed  the  benefit  of  his  example,  and  to 
whom  his  words  of  instruction  and  his  prayers  were  at 
times  almost  inexpressibly  quickenin^^  and  elevating-. 

"  I  can  hardly  trust  myself  to  speak  of  Dr.  Skinner,  so 
highly  do  I  revere  his  piety,  and  so  much  shall  I  miss 
his  sympathy  and  help  in  the  work  here.  But  in  this 
world  of  varnish  and  shams,  and  where  the  imperfections 
of  even  good  men  make  anything  like  eulogy  dangerous, 
it  is  delightful  to  speak  out  fearlessly  one's  joy  in  a  Chris- 
tian character  universally  esteemed.  Elsewhere  they  will 
dwell  upon  the  different  passages  of  his  life,  his  early  con- 
version when  at  the  South  he  gave  up  riches  and  bril- 
liant prospects  in  the  law  for  Christ  and  His  ministry. 
Two  pastorates  in  Philadelphia  and  New  York  will  afford 
ample  material  for  observations.  His  work  as  teacher  of 
Sacred  Rhetoric,  will  invite  attention,  while  his  preach- 
ing in  the  days  of  his  power,  and  his  writings,  will  be  in- 
teresting themes.  To  most  of  those  who  knew  him  here, 
he  appeared  chiefly  as  a  vigorous  and  chastened  old  age 
presented  him.  Seeminglv  unbroken  in  powers  of  mind — 
as  close  a  student  as  ever — keeping  up  fully  with  modern' 
thought  in  philosophy  and  theology  and  interpretation 
and  sacred  rhetoric,  he  appeared  as  discriminating  as 
ever.  But  there  was  evident  in  him  a  wider  range — an 
increasing  appreciation  of  thinkers  aside  from  his  own 
school,  and  a  greater  disposition  to  qualify  the  statements 
of  opinion.  He  looked  out  on  society  and  its  relations 
to  Christianity  more  and  more  with  the  largc-mindedness 
of  a  Christian  philosopher.  With  his  memory  stored,  with 
his  intellectual  appetite  unabated,  with  unfeigned  pleas- 
ure in  intelligent  discussion,  he  was  a  most  interesting 
companion.  Pleasant  as  it  is,  and  not  unprofitable,  to  re- 
call this  in  one  whom  I  wish  to  honor  before  my  people, 
his  Christian  character  was  his  chief  attraction.  The  fire 
of  his  early  years  was  tempered — a  certain  hardness  in  his 


APPENDIX.  123 

manner,  which  was  rendered  more  noticeable  b}''  the  pe- 
culiar absence  of  fancy,  and  even  the  emotional,  in  a  re- 
stricted sense — was  softened  down.  He  was  scrupulously 
free  from  guile.  No  man  ever  suspected  him  of  ulterior 
design.  He  was  distinguished  in  his  palmy  days  for 
plans  in  his  sermons  ;  but  aside  from  them,  he  followed 
principles  and  not  plans.  It  was  not  the  least  of  his 
merits  that  he  was  too  transparent  to  outwit  anybody, 
and  so  he  never  was  accused  of  trying.  In  lesser  things 
he  was  not  persistent ;  but  in  matters  of  right,  Dr.  Skin- 
ner was  the  stuff  of  which  real  martyrs  are  made.  He 
proved  his  superiority  to  considerations  of  money  too  un- 
mistakably to  need  comment.  But  after  all,  we  love  most 
to  think  of  his  inmost  life.  His  conception  of  Christianity 
had  no  morbid  taint  in  it.  To  him  the  law  of  God  was 
marvelously  clear,  and  awful  in  its  extent  and  purity, 
lovely  in  its  moral  excellence.  So,  while  full  of  hope, 
few  men  were  so  sensible  of  their  sins.  His  views  of  God 
were  comprehensive  and  vivid.  Hence,  it  is  not  often 
now  that  you  hear  such  exhibitions  of  the  Divine  govern- 
ment. But  the  soul  of  his  piety  was  his  child-hke,  cling- 
ing faith  in  Christ ;  it  is  in  this  that  he  showed  most  the 
work  of  God  in  his  soul.  As  might  be  expected,  his  con- 
trolling desire  was  to  please  Christ.  Can  we  ever  forget 
his  prayers  for  the  Spirit  of  God  ?  He  lived  in  daily  ex- 
pectation of  heaven.  He  often  spoke  of  it.  And  now  he 
is  there,  with  the  great  and  good  of  Christ ;  and  oh,  with 
Christ  Himself!  I  know  this  is  strong  language,  but  I 
have  weighed  my  words.  Do  you,  my  church,  estimate 
the  privilege  of  having  had  this  man  of  God  among  3^ou  } 
It  is  a  great  loss  for  us  ;  but  oh,  it  is  so  great  a  mercy 
that  he  is  taken  before  any  weakness  came  over  him — 
taken  in  a  beautiful  old  age — as  when  the  sun  sets  in  gol- 
den light.  Then,  to-day,  we  lift  the  conqueror's  strain 
for  him.  '  He  has  fought  a  good  fight ;  he  has  finished 
his  course  ;  he  has  kept  the  faith.'  '  Henceforth  he  hath  a 
crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous 


124  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNEI-L 

Judge,  has  given  him.'     Oh,  let  me  die  the  death  of  the 
righteous,  and  let  my  last  end  be  like  his  !" 

Immediately  upon  the  death  of  Dr.  Skinner,  the  Board 
of  Directors  and  Faculty  of  the  Union  Theological  Semi- 
nary were  called  together,  and  appropriate  arrangements 
made  for  the  funeral,  Mr.  Charles  Butler,  the  President 
of  the  Board,  and  one  of  the  oldest  friends  of  the  deceased 
in  New  York,  offered  some  very  touching  remarks  ;  and 
he  was  followed  by  others  in  the  same  strain.  After  the 
funeral  an  adjourned  meeting  took  place,  when  the  sub- 
joined Minute,  expressive  of  the  sentiment  of  the  Board, 
was  adopted  : 

"  It  becomes  the  painful  duty  of  the  Board,  for  the 
third  time  within  a  year,  to  record  the  ravages  of  death 
amono-  their  beloved  co-laborers  in  the  conduct  of  this 
Seminary.  On  two  other  occasions  only,  since  the  found- 
ing of  the  Institution,  has  a  member  of  the  Faculty  been 
removed  by  death. 

"  To  the  honored  names  of  White  and  Robinson,  the 
no  less  honored  name  of  Skinner  must  now  be  added — 
patriarchal  names,  to  be  had  in  grateful  remembrance,  in 
all  coming  time,  by  the  friends  of  Union  Seminary. 

"  The  Rev.  Thomas  Harvey  Skinner,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 
the  first  and  only  occupant  of  the  Davenport  chair  of  Sa- 
cred Rhetoric,  Pastoral  Theology  and  Church  Govern- 
ment, departed  this  life,  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  a  blissful 
hope  of  immortahty,  on  Wednesday,  February  i,  1871, 
having  almost  completed  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age, 
and  the  fifty-eighth  year  of  his  continuous  active  service 
in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel — full  of  honors  as  of  years. 

"  Our  departed  friend  and  brother  had  been  identified 
with  the  history  and  interests  of  this  school  of  the  proph- 
ets, from  its  very  foundation.  Called  in  the  year  1835 
from  the  Professorship  of  Sacred  Rhetoric,  in  Andovcr 


APPENDIX.  125 

Theological  Seminary,  to  be  the  first  pastor  of  the  Mer- 
cer street  Presbyterian  church  of  this  city,  he  entered 
with  characteristic  ardor  into  the  project  of  creating  a 
similar  institution,  to  be  located  in  the  great  metropolis, 
on  the  largest  scale  of  usefulness,  as  called  for  by  the  de- 
mands of  the  Church,  in  her  vastly  extending  operations, 
and  the  wants  of  the  age. 

"  Chosen  one  of  the  first  Board  of  Directors,  he  de- 
voted the  energies  of  his  great  mind  and  heart,  and  the 
influence  of  his  distinguished  position  in  the  Church,  to 
the  establishment  and  advancement  of  this  beloved  Insti- 
tution. During  the  whole  of  his  pastorate,  and  so  long 
as  he  continued  a  member  of  this  Board,  he  sought  with 
untiring  assiduity  and  unwavering  faith,  to  promote,  in 
every  possible  way,  the  prosperity  of  the  Seminary,  and 
the  spiritual  good  of  its  numerous  students, — a  large  por- 
tion of  whom  availed  themselves  of  the  benefit  to  be  de- 
rived from  his  eminently  spiritual  and  instructive  minis- 
try. The  services  thus  rendered  by  Dr.  Skinner  during 
the  thirteen  years  of  his  New  York  pastorate,  must  be 
regarded  as  among  the  most  effective  means  of  establish- 
ing the  Seminary  on  its  present  strong  foundations  ;  and 
cannot  be  called  to  mind  by  the  Board,  without  a  due 
expression  of  their  devout  gratitude  to  God,  for  the  grace 
that  made  him  such  an  efficient  helper  in  a  time  of  the 
utmost  need. 

"  In  the  year  1848,  he  retired  from  the  Board  and  from 
his  pastorate,  to  accept  of  the  Professorship  which  had 
just  been  endowed,  by  a  wealthy  member  of  his  church, 
with  special  reference  to  his  occupancy  of  the  chair,  and 
to  devote  the  undivided  energies  of  the  remainder  of  his 
life  to  the  service  of  the  Seminary,  whose  interests  he 
had  so  effectually  promoted.  To  this  work  he  brought 
the  ample  stores  of  a  richly  cultured  mind,  of  uncommon 
acuteness,  in  the  full  maturity  of  its  powers,  with  large 
experience  of  pastoral  life  in  three  of  our  principal  cities, 
and  of  a  similar  Professorship  in  Andover  Seminary. 


126  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

"  Most  faithfully  and  admirably  did  he  fulfill  the  high 
expectations  of  the  Board,  in  the  service  to  which  they 
had  unanimously  called  him.  He  proved  himself,  not 
only  a  master  in  his  particular  department  of  theological 
instruction,  but  a  most  faithful  and  judicious  guardian  of 
the  spiritual  interests  of  the  young  men  committed  to 
his  care.  Most  assiduously  did  he  watch  for  their  souls, 
and  strive,  both  by  his  holy  example  and  his  paternal 
counsels,  to  lead  his  pupils  into  the  higher  walks  of  the 
divine  life.  Very  precious  is  his  memory  to  those  wdio 
have  enjoyed  the  benefits  of  his  instructions,  as  well  as  to 
the  Board  and  his  brethren  of  the  Faculty.  God  be 
praised  for  sparing  our  venerated  brother,  to  serve  Him 
so  long  in  the  church  on  earth,  and  for  the  grateful  savor 
of  his  most  exemplary  life. 

"  To  the  family  of  Dr.  Skinner  in  their  great  bereave- 
ment, the  Board  would  tender  their  sincere  and  heartfelt 
sympathies, — congratulating  them  on  having  so  long  sus- 
tained to  him  such  endearing  relations,  and  commending 
them  devoutly  and  affectionately  to  the  all-sufficient  grace 
of  Him  who  careth  effectually  and  tenderly  for  the  widow 
and  the  fatherless." 


^ 


APPENDIX. 


B. 


"Rev."  Dr.  Prentiss:  "  Philadelphia,  June  27,  1871, 

"  My  Dear  Sir,— I  have  to-day  your  kind  favor  of  the 
26th  inst.,  and  regret  that  we  are  not  to  have  the  pleasure 
of  that  discourse  from  your  lips,  and  I  thank  you  for  the 
kind  promise  of  a  copy  of  it  when  published.  The  pecu- 
liar character  of  Dr.  Skinner  will  render  any  memorial  of 
his  life  interesting-,  and  if  in  the  form  of  a  biography,  it 
would  have  given  me  pleasure  to  add,  if  possible,  a  trib- 
ute in  token  of  my  regard  for  his  blessed  memory. 

"  My  first  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Skinner  was  at  a  time 
when  he  had  yielded  to  one  of  the  fiercest  persecutions 
practicable  in  the  present  century.  Owing  to  his  emi- 
nent ability,  his  power  as  an  orator,  exalted  piety  and 
zeal,  he  was  called  immediately,  on  his  being  licensed,  to 
be  the  co-pastor  of  the  Second  Presb)'terian  Church  in 
Philadelphia,  at  that  time  the  strongest  and  most  influ- 
ential Presbyterian  church  in  the  United  States.  Its 
pastor  was  distinguished  as  a  theologian,  scholar  and 
minister.  The  elders  of  the  church  were  men  eminent 
in  the  community  and  of  unbounded  influence  ;  the  con- 
gregation large  and  composed  chiefly  of  persons  recog- 
nized as  of  the  leading  classes  of  society.  The  distin- 
guishing characteristics  of  Dr.  Skinner,  which  raised  him 
to  so  lofty  a  position  in  the  ministry,  and  chiefly  his  zeal 
in  the  work  to  which  he  had  devoted  himself,  and  his 
being  then  scarcely  of  age,  roused  a  feeling  in  that  sober, 
conservative  congregation,  most  unhappy  for  all  parties. 

(1-7) 


128  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

The  young,  both  men  and  women,  filled  with  admiration 
and  passionate  affection  for  the  young  evangelist,  crowd- 
ed the  places  of  worship  whenever  he  preached.  A  con- 
trast to  this,  was  a  realit)',  or  suspected,  v/hen  the  senior 
pastor  conducted  the  services.  A  clamor  arose,  the  like 
of  which  will,  probably  never  exist  again  in  this  country — 
the  cry  of  fanaticism,  wild-fire,  new  measures,  with  tales 
as  absurd  as  they  were  false,  spread  over  the  whole  city. 

"  The  Exchange,  where  merchants  gathered  daily,  the 
insurance  offices,  the  banks,  and  every  private  circle  rang 
with  the  name  of  Thomas  H.  Skinner,  often  in  terms  of 
bitter  denunciation  ;  and  even  now,  many  of  the  older  part 
of  our  citizens,  unconnected  with  our  churches,  associate 
his  name  with  memories  of  epithets  and  language  not  to  be 
repeated.  The  godly  man,  with  all  the  resolution  of  his 
energetic  character,  sunk  under  the  storm.  Agonizing 
days  and  sleepless  nights,  spent  in  groans,  were  bringing 
him  to  an  early  grave,  when  his  father-in-law,  a  wealthy 
merchant,  with  relatives  of  his  family  and  a  few  devoted 
adherents,  left  the  church  and  united  with  the  Fifth  Pres- 
byterian Church,  occupying  a  building  in  a  very  obscure 
position,  and  which  under  another  pastor  had  dwindled 
dowm  almost  to  extinction.  Here,  in  Locust  street,  Avhere 
the  INIusical  Fund  Hall  now  stands,  Mr.  Skinner  enjoyed 
peace  if  not  prosperity.  He  recently  observed  to  a  friend, 
*  From  the  highest  round  of  the  ladder  of  the  pastorate, 
I  had  descended  to  the  lowest.'  It  was  a  rest  to  his  per- 
turbed spirit,  and  here  it  was  easy  for  a  young  man,  just 
settling  in  life,  to  find  what  he  deemed  essential,  a  pew  to 
which  he  could  take  his  bride.  In  fact  the  pews,  oft- 
times,  were  more  numerous  than  the  auditors,  and  here 
Thomas  H.  Skinner  was  delivering  discourses  which,  but 
a  few  years  after,  were  electrifying  our  city. 

"  The  building  up  of  a  church  in  that  spot  was  palpably 
out  of  the  question.  The  feeble  body  took  its  departure 
for  a  new  locality  ;  with  wonderful  energy  and  faith  they 
succeeded  in  constructing  a  large  and  commodious  build- 


APPENDIX.  129 

ing  in  Arch  street,  in  the  midst  of  an  increasing  popula- 
tion. From  the  hour  when  rehgious  worship  was  com- 
menced, and  for  years  after,  that  church  was  crowded 
with  admiring,  reverential  audiences.  It  was  impossible 
at  times  for  the  collectors  of  the  congregational  offerings 
to  pass  through  the  dense  crowds  that  filled  the  aisles  of 
the  church.  Dr.  Skinner  was  then  in  the  full  power  of 
manhood,  with  all  the  fervor  of  youth,  that  lasted  him  in- 
deed to  his  eightieth  year.  To  others  it  is  left  to  give  the 
portraiture  of  this  finished  Christian  orator.  Perhaps  in 
nothing,  saving  a  high- wrought  eloquence,  in  which  lan- 
guage flowed  with  mingled  majesty  and  sweetness,  was 
he  so  remarkable  as  in  his  power  of  analysis.  The  most 
profound  and  mysterious  problems  in  theology,  under  his 
preaching,  assumed  a  distinctness  and  vivid  clearness 
that  astonished  not  less  than  it  delighted  the  hearer.  The 
conviction  of  truth  came  irresistibly,  producing  a  deep 
and  solemn  satisfaction. 

"  Among  the  discourses  of  Dr.  Skinner,  one  will  illus- 
trate his  power  as  an  orator,  not  more,  however,  than 
was  very  frequently  exercised.  The  text  was,  *  Joy  shall 
be  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth.'  In  the 
scene  delineated,  of  the  sinner  trespassing,  and  the  angel 
group  Avatching  the  fatal  progress,  the  dramatic  power 
displayed  was  perfect.  With  a  master  hand  the  interest 
was  centered  in  the  heavenly  host,  to  whom  the  very 
thought  of  sin  was  a  horror,  whose  holy  sense  of  God's 
anger  and  of  eternal  wrath  excited  in  them  the  deepest 
anxiety,  and  as  the  picture  was  drawn,  the  sinner  advanc- 
ing step  by  step  to  dreadful  ruin,  the  mind  of  the  audi- 
ence was  brought  to  a  state  of  agony,  when  the  burst  of 
relief  came,  and  one  long  sigh  was  breathed,  and  the  joy 
was  as  it  might  have  been  in  heaven. 

"  The  organization  of  the  congregation  was  peculiar, 
and  very  much  of  its  character  was  owing  to  its  compo- 
sition.    A  very  few  members  with  their  families  consti- 
tuted its   nucleus.     We  were  weak  and  comparatively 
9 


130  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

poor.  Every  accession  to  our  number  was  hailed  with 
dehght  and  received  with  tokens  of  friendship.  We  be- 
came associated  as  one  family  in  Christ.  This  sentiment 
pervaded  the  whole  church  for  years.  The  woman  at 
her  stall  in  market,  and  the  mechanic  at  his  bench,  were 
greeted  by  the  lawyer  and  the  merchant  on  terms  of  inti- 
macy. We  sat  at  one  table  in  our  communion  service, 
sitting  face  to  face,  and  could  not  but  know  each  other, 
and  all  this  without  impinging  on  the  ordinary  social  dif- 
ferences in  society.  It  was  boldly  said  by  a  warm-hearted 
member,  '  there  never  was  such  a  church,  and  there  never 
would  be.'  Its  power  in  Christian  enterprise  was  great 
and  far  beyond  its  supposed  ability.  Anything  under- 
taken was  done. 

"  The  departure  of  Dr.  Skinner  from  this  scene  of  his 
labors  and  successes  is  elsewhere  described,  but  to  the 
last  of  his  life  he  regarded  it  with  strong  regret.  He 
walked  the  streets  of  Philadelphia  with  a  buoyant  step — 
for  regret  did  not  make  him  sad — saying,  here  I  am  at 
home ;  here  was  the  sphere  of  my  influence,  and  I  never 
should  have  gone  away.  Others,  however,  think  differ- 
ently, and  that  he  has  exercised  in  the  Theological  Sem- 
inary an  influence  for  good  far  more  impressive  and  ex- 
tensive. 

"  The  relation  in  which  Dr.  Skinner  stood  towards  his 
elder  brother,  forms  one  of  the  most  interesting  points  in 
his  life.  Judge  Skinner  was  a  most  honorable,  high- 
minded  man.  His  memoir  was  written  by  his  brother — 
a  charming  production.  The  Judge  was  warm-hearted 
and  eccentric.  '  My  brother  Tom'  was  to  him  the  Mag- 
nus Apollo ;  no  such  man,  in  his  estimation,  existed,  and 
he  loved  him  with  the  affection  of  a  mother.  A  Uttle  in- 
cident was  characteristic  of  both.  Some  years  since, 
while  visiting  the  Virginia  Springs,  on  my  arrival  at  the 
Salt  Sulphur,  Judge  Skinner  addressed  me,  as  I  dis- 
mounted from  the  stage  coach,  '  Do  you  know  anything 
•  of  my  brother,  and  where  he  is?'     I  answered,  *  He  is  at 


APPENDIX. 


131 


the  White  Sulphur  with  his  tamily,     I  left  him  there  this 
morning-.'     '  Tell  me,  how  is  it  ?     I  have  been  looking  for 
him  at  the  various  springs  for  two  weeks  past,  and  inquir- 
ing for  him  in  vain.    On  the  arrival  of  the  stage  yesterday, 
I  spoke  to  the  most  intelligent-looking  man,  saying,  "  Sir, 
do  you  know  anything  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Skinner  being  in 
this  valley  ?"      He  answered,  '*  Yes  ;  he  is  at  the  White 
Sulphur."     "How  do  you  know,  sir?"     "I   heard  him 
preach   yesterday."     ''What,"   said    I,  ''did   he   preach 
about?"     After  mumbling  for  a  minute,  the  man  said,  "  I 
don't  know."     I  answered,  "  You  never  heard  Tom  Skin- 
ner preach  and  say  you  don't  know  what  he  preached 
about !"     Tell  me,  now,  how  it  is  ?'     '  It  is  easily  explain- 
ed,' I  replied.     '  It  was  announced  on  the  doors  of  the 
Hall,  on  Sunday  last,  that  Dr.  Skinner  would  preach.    He 
was  taken  ill  in  the  night,  and  I  was  roused  at  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning  to  visit  him  ;    and  having  administered 
som.e  soothing  medicine,  he  was   relieved,  but  did  not 
leave  his  bed  all  day.     Another  person  preached,  and  to- 
day he  is  well.'     In  his  rough  manner,  the  Judge  replied, 
'  I  knew  that  nobody  could  hear  my  brother  Tom  preach 
and  say  he  didn't  know  what  he  preached  about.'     The 
brothers  were  together  the  next  day,  and  the  two  re- 
markable men  were  the   admiration    of  the   crowd   of 
visitors. 

"  The  last  I  saw  of  my  venerated  friend,  was  on  the 
day  of  Mr.  Barnes's  funeral,  and  as  he  parted  from  myself 
and  one  of  his  early  pupils,  the  latter  exclaimed,  '  Dear 
old  man !  I  love  the  boots  he  walks  in !'  This  was  but 
the  expression  of  the  affectionate  regard  in  which  he  was 
held  very  generally  by  those  who  enjoyed  his  intimacy. 

"  I  have  sketched  these  memories  of  my  dear  friend — 
under  whose  ministry  I  united  with  the  church,  and  from 
whom  I  enjoyed  for  more  than  fifty  years  the  tenderest 
tokens  of  friendship— for  my  own  gratification  and  at 
your  suggestion.  I  do  not  know  that  they  can  do  any- 
thing to  increase,  in  yourself  or  any  one,  a  higher  esti- 


132  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

mate  of  Dr.  Skinner  than  is  already  entertained.  I  sup- 
pose, indeed,  they  are  too  late  for  any  use  in  your  memo- 
rial of  his  life.  Please,  my  dear  sir,  when  you  have  done 
with  these  sheets — or  rather,  have  read  them — let  me  have 
them.     I  shall  anxiously  expect  a  copy  of  your  discourse. 

"  Yours,  most  respectfully, 

"Joseph  H.  Dulles." 


APPENDIX. 


c. 


Soon  after  Dr.  Skinner's  death,  a  number  of  affection- 
ate and  grateful  tributes,  written  by  his  former  pupils, 
appeared^  in  the  religious  papers.  Only  two  of  these 
articles  are  at  hand  ;  I  give  them  both.  The  first  comes 
from  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan. 

THOMAS     H.     SKINNER,     D.D. 

BY   REV.   JAMES   H.   TAYLOR. 

"  The  dear,  dear  old  man  !  How  I  loved  him  ! 
There  was  not  the  man  living  for  whom  I  had  such  an 
affectionate  veneration.  So  intellectually  clear,  so  fiery, 
yet  so  devout,  so  gentle,  so  kind  !  It  seems  to  me  that 
if  I  had  known  he  was  near  his  end,  I  would  have 
gone  to  New  York  for  the  privilege  of  passing  ten  min- 
utes in  his  society  once  more.  He  was  so  simple,  so 
sympathetic,  so  earnest,  so  interested  in  another's  cares 
and  joys  and  thinkings.  His  death  is  a  personal  bereave- 
ment to  me.  The  world  seems  lonely  in  my  conscious- 
ness that  he  is  no  longer  in  it. 

"  While  a  student  under  him,  I  learned  so  to  love  and 
honor  him,  that  I  have  leaned  upon  him  ever  since,  and 
have  been  wont  to  turn  to  him  for  counsel,  as  a  son  to  a 
father.  I  knew,  when  on  my  way  to  his  study,  that  he 
would  not  be  too  busy  to  either  see  me  then  or  appoint  an 
hour  which  he  would  give — that  he  would  not  treat  my 
errand  as  a  trifle,  nor  dismiss  me  with  the  fewest  words 

(133) 


134  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

possible,  or  cold  expressions  of  opinion.  Though  up  in 
the  clear  light  himself,  he  would  come  down  into  a  cloud 
or  fog  where  another  might  be  laboring,  get  round  him, 
lay  hold  of  him,  and,  if  warm  sympathy  and  clear  state- 
ment would  avail,  he  would  help  him  out. 

Possibly  it  may  not  be  known  to  many  that  he  was 
naturally  skeptical.  Surely,  none  who  often  heard  him 
pray,  and  felt  the  wonderful  power  in  his  simple,  child- 
like clinging  to  Christ,  as  if  in  a  personal  conference  that 
made  him  oblivious  to  any  other  personal  presence,  would 
suspect  anything  like  a  skeptical  cast  of  mind.  Yet  it 
was  true.  Up  to  twelve  years  ago,  by  the  confession 
of  his  own  lips  to  me  in  an  interview  that  is  still  preci- 
ous in  my  memory,  such  had  been  the  life-long  thorn  in 
the  flesh. 

Hearing,  once  while  I  was  a  student,  that  I  was  in 
some  theological  perplexity,  he  invited  me  to  his  study, 
and  gave  me  his  entire  evening.  I  had  hung  upon  his 
prayers  and  loved  him  before,  but  never  had  known  him 
until  then.  Such  condescension,  without  so  seeming,  in 
turning  aside  from  his  path  of  light  and  joy,  to  the  dark 
and  painful  way  in  which  another  was  walking — such  pa- 
tience in  wandering  to  and  fro  and  pointing  the  way  out 
— such  tenderness  and  skill  in  disposing  of  difficulties  ! 
Then  it  was  that  he  made  known  his  own  experience.  I 
cannot  quote  exactly  his  language,  but  1  can  come  very 
near  it,  such  an  impression  did  it  make  and  so  efficient 
was  it  for  good  to  me.  But  I  cannot  even  undertake  to 
picture  his  restlessness,  nervous  springing,  walking,  and 
fiery  words  while  he  talked. 

Said  he,  "  I  have  fought  the  devil-suggesting-doubts 
every  day  of  my  Christian  life.  He  attacks  me  every- 
where with  temptations  to  doubt  and  abandon  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  He  takes  every  mean  advantage  of  me. 
He  is  most  likely  to  come  when  I  am  very  weary  and 
just  dropping  to  sleep.  Only  a  few  nights  ago,"  said  he, 
"  when  I  had  lain  down  and  was  just  gliding  into  my  first 


APPENDIX.  135 

doze,  he  whispered  in  my  ear,  '  Deny  that  there  is  any 
God.'  And  I  sprang-  upon  the  floor,  and  cried  out, 
'  You  devil  !  you  old  coward  !  why  take  me  when  I  am 
half  asleep  ?  Come  when  I  am  awake.'  "  Then  he  added, 
"  I  expect  this  warfare  to  continue  as  long  as  I  live.  My 
mind  is  so  constituted." 

But  then  he  set  forth,  most  impressively,  the  possi- 
bility of  maintaining  such  a  life  of  faith  in  Jesus  that  such 
attacks  should  not  disturb  the  deep  peace  of  the  soul. 
He  knew  wdiat  such  faith  was.  His  prayers  breathed  it. 
His  life  was  it.  Blessed  Jesus,  who  can  give  such  vic- 
tory !  Nearly  three-score  years  in  the  service  of  his  Mas- 
ter, and  loving  that  service  more  and  more  to  the  end. 

He  and  Albert  Barnes  began  their  work  together, 
were  intimate  friends,  and  together  both  have  gone  to 
their  rest.  Both  were  converted  when  young  men  study- 
ing law — both  were  independent  in  thought  and  bold  of 
speech  —  both  were  charged  with  heresy,  though  only 
Mr.  Barnes  was  actually  brought  to  trial — both  were  too 
sincere  and  unselfish  in  their  devotion  to  the  Christian 
ministry  to  be  soured  or  turned  backward  by  opposition 
— both  maintained  unusual  sweetness  of  spirit  and  single- 
ness of  purpose  in  their  life-w^ork.  May  some  of  us  find 
their  mantles  and  Avear  them. 

Dear,  dear  old  Dr.  Skinner!  We  shall  hear  him  pray 
no  more,  nor  any  more  witness  the  child-like  simplicity  of 
his  character  in  the  varying  circumstances  of  life.  But 
we  have  the  same  Saviour  who  made  him  what  he  Avas 
and  is. — From  the  Interior,  February  i6th. 

The  other  comes  across  the  ocean  from  the  shores  of 
Lake  Leman. 

THE     LATE     DR.     SKINNER. 

BY   JAMES   LEONARD    CORNING. 

The  last  post  brought  heavy  tidings  from  over  the 
sea.    One  after  another  the  fathers  are  passing  out  of  our 


136  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

sight,  leaving  us  their  examples  to  stimulate  and  reprove, 
and  their  unfinished  Avork  to  be  carried  forward  by  their 
children.     Just  a  score  of  years  have  elapsed  since  I  sat 
in  my  student  life  at  the  feet  of  that  venerable  saint  and 
scholar,  whose  dismission  has  just  taken  place.     At  that 
period  he  seemed  to  be  an  aged  man,  with  sparse  grey 
hair,  attenuated   limbs,  and  the  deep  lines  of  thought, 
mayhap,  too,  of  sorrow,  on  his  ample  brow.     Not  one  of 
all  the  faculty  had  such  emphatic  individuality  as  he. 
He  Avas  one  of  those  strong  characters  which  on  the 
first  contact  impress  a  memory  indelible  by  time.     I  re- 
member as  if  it  Avere  yesterday  my  first  introduction  to 
him,  at  our  matriculation  in  the  Union  Theological  Semi- 
nary.    In  the  midst  of  the  commonplace  Avork  of  taking 
our  certificates,  registering  our  names,  and  the  like,  some 
young  brother  proposed  a  theological  question  ;  and  in 
a  moment  a  flood-gate  was  lifted,  and  we  all  stood  in 
mute  astonishment  at  the  varied  Avealth  of  learninof  Avhich 
poured  forth  from   his  lips.     There  were  some  of  our 
teachers  Avhom  Ave  only  dared  to  reverence  ;  but  I  think 
Ave  all  loved  Dr.  Skinner  Avith  filial  tenderness.     His  pro- 
fessional Avork  Avas  of  such  a  sort  Avhich  required  more 
of  the  fatherly  element  than  that  of  any  other  member  of 
the  faculty.     It  Avas  his  duty  (a  daily  cross-bearing)  to 
read  over  and  criticise  our  essays  and  maiden  sermons, 
to  patch  here  and  prune  there  Avith  surgical  pencil,  to 
cut  out  adjectives  and  supply  nouns,  to  shrink  up  our 
long-Avinded  sentences  and  paragraphs  Avithin  the  limits 
of  common  sense  and  ordinary  comprehensibility.     Any 
school-teacher  who  has  the  Aveekly  task  of  correcting  a 
peck  or  so  of  compositions,  may  get  just  a  suggestion  of 
the  amount  of  grace  required  in  the  function  of  our  pro- 
fessor of  homiletics  and  sacred  rhetoric.     For  my  part,  I 
ahvays  considered   him   an  almost  solitary  example  of 
condescension   and  patience.     A  great  healer  of  mind 
Avas  he.     He  diagnosed  our  individual  cases  Avith  mar- 
velous skill.     He  had  a  remedy  at  hand  for  CA'ery  intel- 


APPENDIX.  137 

lectual  infirmity.  I  have  kept  one  of  his  prescriptions 
by  me  for  twenty  years.  Wc  were  sittin<^  alone  in  his 
private  library,  he  sipping  his  tea  and  I  reading  sermon 
'  Number  One/  well  equipped  with  flights  and  exple- 
tives, and  tied  at  the  back  with  a  blue  ribbon.  If  I  re- 
member aright,  he  finished  his  tea  about  at  the  moment 
that  I  concluded  the  last  sentence  of  the  last  "  practical 
application."  He  set  down  his  cup,  and,  giving  me  a 
look  of  paternal  fidelity,  said  :  "  My  young  brother,  your 
style  is  too  florid.  You  must  read  John  Foster  and  Isaac 
Taylor." 

Dr.  Skinner  was  a  man  of  great  modesty.  He  never 
paraded  his  learning ;  and  yet  he  was  beyond  question 
one  of  the  most  erudite  theologians  in  the  American 
church.  He  was  an  omnivorous  reader,  and  it  seemed 
that  he  never  forgot  anything.  I  think  I  know  why  this 
was  so.  Our  class  will  never  forget  the  day  Avhen  he 
was  lecturing  to  us  on  the  use  of  books,  and  the  almost 
thunder  tones  with  which  he  startled  us  from  our  seats 
as  he  smote  with  his  hand  on  the  desk,  and  exclaimed  : 
"  Yoimg gcntlcjuen,  read  zvith  pen  in  hand!'  He  was  one  of 
those  men  who  back  precept  by  example,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  his  "common-place  books"  of  various  sorts  would 
make  a  good-sized  library.  He  had  one  literary  weak- 
ness, in  that  his  great  kindness  of  heart  somewhat  dulled 
the  edge  of  his  critical  faculty.  It  has  been  for  years  a 
common  saying  among  his  friends  that  "  the  best  book 
Avith  Dr.  Skinner  was  the  last  one  that  he  read."  If  an 
author  would  but  give  him  one  fresh  thought  in  a  chap- 
ter, or  even  in  a  volume,  the  doctor  was  so  thankful  that 
he  canonized  him  at  once.  He  was  altogether  too  merci- 
ful a  man  to  conduct  the  review  department  of  a  first- 
class  periodical. 

Dr.  Skinner  had  all  the  elements  of  a  great  preacher. 
He  was  a  rhetorician  by  nature  as  well  as  by  profession. 
And  so,  like  all  men  of  his  class,  he  was  in  danger  of  sac- 
rificing practical  force  to  style.    But  he  never  succumbed 


138  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

to  this  subtle  seduction  ;  but  was  always  lo3^al  to  convic- 
tion, and,  as  Porson  has  put  it,  '  called  a  spade  a  spade, 
and  not  a  horticultural  implement.'  He  was  one  of  the 
most  fervid  pulpit  orators  that  I  ever  listened  to.  It  was 
always  a  marvel  to  me  how  a  man,  seemingly  of  deficient 
vitality,  could  give  out  magnetic  force  at  his  accustomed 
rate,  and  yet  survive  beyond  middle-age.  Nothing  would 
explain  this  phenomenon  but  the  most  scrupulous  physi- 
cal moderation.  He  w^as  temperate  everywhere  else  but 
in  the  pulpit ;  but  there  I  have  often  seen  his  earnestness 
rise  to  a  pitch  of  "  fine  frenzy." 

Dr.  Skinner  will  be  remembered  by  all  who  knew 
him  on  earth  as  a  man  of  extraordinary  piety.  Remark- 
able as  he  was  in  intellectual  gifts,  yet  so  great  were 
his  spiritual  excellencies  that  the  saint  hid  the  scholar. 
Hence,  as  might  be  expected,  his  gift  in  prayer  almost 
eclipsed  his  gift  in  preaching.  I  am  afraid  that,  in  this 
age  of  materialism  and  freezing  philosophies,  this  special 
endowment  is  greatly  depreciated.  We  have  poets  laure- 
ate and  crowned  philosophers,  and  it  is  well ;  but  the 
few  men  and  women  who  possess  the  gift  of  prayer  in 
great  degree  are  really  of  higher  rank  than  poets  and 
philosophers,  deny  or  doubt  it  who  will.  And,  above  all, 
I  love  to  think  of  our  clear  teacher  as  rarely  great  in  the 
coronal  element  of  greatness. 

Every  day  in  the  lecture -room  he  conducted  our 
opening  devotions  ;  and  the  service,  though  customary, 
never  descended  to  formality.  But  occasionally  a  special 
inspiration  seemed  to  be  given  him,  and  for  a  brief  spell, 
while  he  voiced  our  sacredest  thoughts  and  yearnings  in 
the  ear  of  our  dear  Father,  we  seemed  caught  up  to  the 
summit  of  some  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  and  we  forgot 
that  we  were  still  denizens  of  the  flesh.  I  never  will  for- 
get one  fervid  sentence  in  the  midst  of  one  of  his  pray- 
ers :  *  O  Lord,  grant  that  every  one  of  us  may  save  some 
souls  before  we  die  !'     It  was  a  parenthesis  preceded  and 


APPENDIX.  139 

followed  by  a  solemn  pause  ;  and  responsibility  and  mor- 
tality never  stared  us  so  full  in  the  face  as  at  that  instant. 

Now,  as  I  close  these  honest  yet  imperfect  words,  let 
us  for  a  moment  think  of  the  grandeur  of  moral  influ- 
ence. It  is  a  sum  of  permutation,  and  no  figures  can 
compute  the  last  result.  There  are  probably  several 
hundred  men  living  to-day  and  occupying  spheres  of 
public  influence  who  are  chiefly  or  in  great  part  indebted 
to  Dr.  Skinner  for  their  best  culture  and  inspiration. 
He  was  a  bright  jewel  cast  into  the  ocean  of  Time, 
and  now  sunk  out  of  sight ;  but  the  ripples  follow  one 
another  to  the  eternal  shores. — From  the  hidependcnt  of 
April  20th. 

Vevay,  Switzerland,  3Iarch,  1871. 


APPENDIX. 


D. 


The  following  is  the  description  referred  to  : 

"  I  conclude  with  a  brief  notice  of  Mrs.  Lowther,  the 
mother  of  Mrs.  Skinner.  She  was  a  grand-daughter  of 
Governor  Gabriel  Johnston*  and  Penelope  Eden,  daugh- 
ter of  Governor  Eden.  Her  parents  were  William  and 
Penelope  Dawson  ;  her  husband  was  Tristrim  Lowther, 
Esq.,  a  man  of  refined  manners,  who  had  a  high  standing 
at  the  bar,  and  was  esteemed  and  beloved  for  his  kindness 
to  the  poor  and  the  general  excellence  of  his  character. 

"  Mrs.  Lowther  Vv'as  distinguished  by  birth  and  educa- 
tion, in  both  of  which  she  had  every  advantage,  less  than 
by  intrinsic  excellencies  ;  such,  especially,  as  form  the 
highest  grace  and  charm  of  the  female  character.  Her 
person  was  a  rare  model  of  beauty  and  delicacy :  in 
height,  in  shape,  in  complexion,  in  every  feature  and 
line  so  exquisitely  fashioned,  that,  regarding  it  in  the 
class  of  forms  to  which  it  belonged,  art  itself  could 
scarcely  suggest  an  improvement,  or  desire  any  varia- 
tion ;  one,  at  least,  could  note  no  defect,  could  attempt 
no  criticism,  in  the  presence  of  so  much  that  was  so  sur- 
passingl}^  beautiful  and  attractive.  I  cannot  imagine  that 
any  one  not  insensible  to  beauty  could  see  Mrs.  Lowther, 
though  in  a  multitude  of  the  fair,'  without  having  his  eye 

*  A  brother  of  Governor  Samuel  Johnston's  father. 
(140) 


APPENDIX.  141 

riveted  by  her  distinctive  queenly  appearance,  and  yet  she 
was  the  complete  contrast  of  ostentatious  beauty. 

"  The  charm  of  all  her  charms  was  a  palpably  evident 
self-unconsciousness  of  being  in  any  degree  uncommon  or 
distinctive.  She  could  not  be  hid,  yet  it  appeared  to  ob- 
servers that  she  would  be  if  she  could.  It  gives  me  a 
singular  pleasure,  at  this  remote  day,  to  contemplate 
such  a  specimen  of  unaffected  modesty  ;  I  have  never 
conceived  of  anything,  of  its  kind,  which  I  think  more 
entitled  to  be  termed  celestial ;  and  the  adornments  and 
movements  of  her  person  were  invariably  consistent  with 
its  peerless  symmetry  and  elegance.  Her  dress,  her  steps, 
her  attitudes,  her  looks,  were  always  such  as  became  her 
inherent  modesty,  the  true  dignity  and  nobility  which  be- 
longed to  her  nature.  For  six  years,  during  which  I  was 
an  inmate  of  the  family,  according  to  my  best  remem- 
brance of  those  happy  years,  T  saw  her  do  nothing  which 
had  not  a  decorum  and  propriety  in  entire  keeping  with 
her  character  as  I  have  represented  it.  She  had  always 
a  tasteful  and  beautiful  air,  and  to  look  upon  her  face,  or 
hear  her  voice,  at  any  time,  was  a  refreshment. 

"  And  if  she  was  so  lovely  and  beautiful  in  appearance, 
she  was  more  beautiful  within.  She  did  not  aim  at  effect ; 
if  she  studied  to  please  others,  as  she  certainly  did,  it  was 
for  their  sake,  not  her  own. 

"  It  seemed  to  be  as  much  her  nature  to  be  unselfish,  as 
it  is  the  nature  of  man  generally  to  be  the  reverse.  She 
always  appeared — for  she  always  was — happy  in  what 
made  others  so  ;  and  in  the  afflictions  of  others,  how 
spontaneously,  how  sincerely,  how  deeply  was  she  afflict- 
ed !  When  the  weather  Avas  stormy,  her  sympathies  were 
with  the  weather-beaten  mariner ;  when  the  pestilence 
was  raging,  they  were  with  sufferers,  in  the  chamber  of 
disease  and  death.  I  never  heard  her — I  cannot  think 
any  one  ever  heard  her,  speak  an  evil  word  of  any  person. 
She  would  estimate  the  faults  of  others,  and  the  more  so 
sometimes,  when  she  herself  was  the  sufferer  by  them  ; 


142  THOMAS    HARVEY    SKINNER. 

and  if  she  could  find  no  excuse  for  them,  she  would 
weep,  and  comfort  herself  as  far  as  she  could  with  that 
*  charity,  which  hopeth  all  things.'  Her  cultivation  and 
politeness  gave  her  no  inferior  place  among  persons  of 
refined  and  elegant  manners  ;  but  in  intercourse  with  the 
humble  and  the  poor,  even  such  of  them  as  were  of  lower 
habits,  while  she  retained  her  lovely  individuality,  she 
was  as  famihar  as  if  she  had  been  one  of  their  own  class. 
She  gave  such  evidence  as  no  one  could  question ;  that 
she  esteemed  those  she  had  intercourse  with,  whether  of 
high  or  low  rank,  better  than  herself,  and  even  forgot 
herself  in  the  interest  which  she  took  in  them.  She  had 
a  bright  and  well-furnished  mind  ;  her  proper  sphere  was 
that  of  the  highest  cultivation  and  intelligence  ;  but  she 
was  quite  at  home,  also,  with  persons  of  inferior  name 
and  condition. 

"  The  loveliness,  the  grace,  of  Mrs.  Lowther's  charac- 
ter, as  now  regarded,  though  advanced  and  matured  by 
education,  was  merely  natural ;  it  was  what  belonged  to 
her  by  her  original  constitution  as  given  her  by  her 
Maker.  That  such  native  excellence  should  have  been 
crowned  and  sanctified  by  evangehcal  piety,  was  not  a 
fruit  from  itself,  and  not  to  be  on  any  account  anticipated 
as  a  necessary  or  certain  result.  In  my  early  acquaintance 
with  her  I  do  not  think  she  was  a  spiritual  Christian. 
Her  goodness  was  constitutional,  natural,  not  from  the 
renewing  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  when  the 
change  occurred  in  myself,  which  led  to  a  change  in  my 
choice  of  a  profession,  she  was  simultaneously  and  singu- 
larly changed  ;  she  sympathized  with  me  in  my  new  feel- 
ings, began  a  strictly  religious  mode  of  life,  and,  until  her 
death,  continued  to  give  most  decisive  evidences  of  reno- 
vation by  the  Spirit.  Her  religious  character  was  im- 
proved by  time  ;  she  was  a  mature  and  established  Chris- 
tian when  she  died  ;  and  her  death  was  serene,  touching, 
triumphant. 

"  One  circumstance  of  it  was  remarkably  characteristic. 


APPENDIX.  143 

When  the  last  struggle  was  about  to  commence,  observ- 
ing her  daughter,  who  sat  near  her,  overwhelmed  in  sor- 
row, she  said  :  '  Let  Maria  be  removed  ;  what  is  about  to 
take  place  is  more  than  she  can  bear.' 

"  She  arranged  her  person,  with  her  own  hand  pressed 
her  falling  chin  upward,  and  so  calmly  and  peacefully 
yielded  up  her  spirit  into  the  hands  of  God. 

"  In  reviewing  what  I  have  said  of  a  dear  friend,  I  am 
not  conscious  of  any  exaggeration  ;  however  it  may  ap- 
pear to  others,  in  my  own  vivid  conviction  it  is  but  an 
utterance  of  strict  sober  truth.  Until  but  a  short  time 
before  her  death,  she  lived  with  her  daughter,  the  pride 
of  the  family,  as  she  was  also  of  the  eminently  cultivated 
and  refined  social  circle  to  which  she  belonged." 


APPENDIX. 


"  Truly,  if  ever  there  was  a  period  when  the  whole 
Christian  world  should  be  down  upon  their  faces  before 
the  throne  of  mercy,  imploring  with  all  the  importunity 
and  boldness  and  perseverance  of  faith,  a  race  of  minis- 
ters, each  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  was  Barnabas  or 
Paul,  that  period  is  passing  over  us.  Not  from  one  place 
or  another,  but  from  all  quarters  of  the  earth,  testimony 
multiplies  daily  that  amidst  the  greatest  possible  facilities 
for  converting  the  world,  a  greatly  increased  and  more 
devoted  ministry  is  indispensable.  This  testimony  comes 
to  us,  not  indeed  as  the  Macedonian  cry  came  to  the 
apostle  in  a  supernatural  vision,  but  in  a  manner  not  less 
affecting  or  decisive  as  to  its  purport.  It  is  a  real  sound, 
which  flies  round  the  land  and  rings  in  our  ears  all  the 
day  long.  '  Send  us  preachers,'  is  the  universal,  ceaseless 
demand,  at  home  and  abroad.  It  comes  from  more  than 
a  thousand  of  our  destitute  churches  ;  it  comes  from  the 
cities,  from  the  wilderness,  from  the  islands,  from  the  ut- 
termost parts  of  the  sea,  from  tracts  until  lately  unknown 
to  civilized  man.  This  cry,  which  sounds  so  loudly  and  so 
complainingly  in  our  ears,  should,  by  general  consent,  be 
turned  into  prayer  and  sent  up  to  heaven.  And  shall  we 
longer  forbear  to  do  this  ?  Shall  we  stand  and  hear  that 
unusual  cry,  and  feel  no  inclination  to  direct  it  to  the  ear 
of  Him  from  whom  help  alone  can  come  ?    Is  it  not  a  mys- 

('44) 


APPENDIX.  145 

terious  species  of  infatuation  to  forbear  to  lift  up  our  cry 
to  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  ?  Why  do  we  not,  if  this  be 
the  case,  abjure  the  very  religion  of  Jesus,  and  abandon 
ourselves,  as  well  as  the  heathen,  and  the  whole  race  of 
man,  to  despair?  Why  should  not  a  reform  forthwith 
commence,  and  the  place  of  prayer  have  more  attractions 
than  the  eloquence  of  any  mortal,  or  any  angel's  tongue? 
Why,  then,  will  not  every  true  Christian  make  a  cove- 
nant with  himself  to  change  his  life  in  this  particular,  and 
from  henceforth  make  it  one  of  his  chief  subjects  of  wrest- 
ling supplication,  that  God  would  give  us  a  more  faithful, 
earnest,  and  laborious  ministry  ?  Why  will  we  not  call 
to  mind  how  Abraham  and  Moses  and  Elias  and  Daniel 
and  Paul,  and,  above  all,  how  the  blessed  Jesus  labored  in 
prayer,  and  resolve  in  God's  strength  to  pray  in  the  same 
manner  ?  Oh,  what  an  amount  of  beneficent  power  would 
such  prayers  exert  upon  the  external  destinies  of  our 
world  !  What  wonders  of  grace  would  be  witnessed  in 
our  churches  ;  what  accessions  would  be  made  to  the  sa- 
cred ministry  ;  what  an  impulse  would  be  given  to  the 
cause  of  missions  ;  what  brightness  would  be  shed  on  all 
the  prospects  of  the  Church  !" 

10 


The  following  list  of  Dr.  Skinner's  publications  is  taken 
from  Allibone's  Dictionary  of  Authors : 

1.  Religion  of  the  Bible.     N.  Y.,  1839;  London,  1848,  '51. 

2.  Aids  to  Preaching  and  Hearing.  Phila.,  iSmo  ;  Lon.,  1839,  lamo; 
1S40,  Svo. 

3.  Religious  Liberty;  a  Discourse.     N.  Y.,  1S41,  i2mo. 

4.  Hints  to  Christians.     Phila.,  32mo. 

5.  Inaugural  Address.     8vo.     See  Spirit  of  the  Pilgrims,  vi.,  84. 

6.  Thoughts  on  Evangelizing  the  World. 

7.  Religious  Life  of  Francis  Markoe.     N.  Y.,  i8mo. 

8.  Vinet's   Pastoral   Theology.      Trans,   and   edited.     1854,    i^mo. 

9.  Vinet's  Homiletics.     Trans,  and  edited.     1854,  8vo. 

10.  Discussions  in  Theology.     1868,  cr.  8vo,  pp.  287. 

Dr.  Skinner  also  published  a  number  of  religious  tracts  and  occasional 
sermons,  (see  Fish's  Pulp.  Eloq.  of  19th  Cent.,  363,  77,)  and  contributed  to 
Amcr.  Bible  Repos.,  Chris.  Spect.,  Amer.  Presby.  and  Theolog.  Rev.,  etc. 


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